


whether near or far, i am always yours

by kitcaliber



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Eye Trauma, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Human Experimentation, Kidnapping, Marriage Proposal, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Pregnancy, Sex, Size Difference, Slow Burn, Team Talon (Overwatch), Unplanned Pregnancy, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-24 01:41:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 52,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21330160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitcaliber/pseuds/kitcaliber
Summary: One day, Anya met Siebren, and neither's world would ever be the same.
Relationships: Sigma | Siebren de Kuiper/Original Female Character
Comments: 17
Kudos: 64





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey, Anya?”

The voice derailed her train of thought, and she grimaced for a moment. “Yeah?”

“I know you’re just a programmer, but we’re really short-staffed and Dr. de Kuiper needs someone in his lab pronto. Can you do me a huge favor and go take care of it?”

Anya nodded, standing up. “Just tell me where it is.”

“Seventh floor, right across from the elevator. Thanks, Anya.”

She smiled at him, walking towards the door. “No problem. You owe me one, Steve.”

“How about lunch sometime, then?” He asked, heart rate suddenly spiking.

Her smile faltered a bit. “Ah...I’ll think about it,” she said. “Anyway, you said pronto? I’ve got to be off, then. See you later.”

“Yeah...see you,” he replied, trying to hide the sadness in his voice.

Escaping the situation, Anya quickly walked out into the hallway and found her way to the seventh floor. And, as promised, directly across from the elevator was a lab. As she approached the door, she read the nameplate on the door. Dr. Siebren de Kuiper.  _ Must be the right place, _ she thought to herself before knocking on the door.

“Come in,” a voice called out. Anya immediately noted how deep and pleasant it was.

She pushed the door open and entered the lab to see a rather large man hovering in front of a computer terminal, his back to the door. “Hello? Uh, IT sent me. I hear you’re having an issue?”

“Yes, my computer is–” he cut himself off as he turned around to face the voice. Its owner was beautiful. Shoulder-length red wavy hair, bright green eyes, and soft pink lips. She was tall, even just wearing flats as she was. She was decidedly not thin, but it made no difference to him. “Ah…” What was he saying? He’d forgotten.

“What...is the issue, doctor?” She tilted her head ever so slightly, and the cuteness of it sent a spasm through his chest.

“Ah, please, call me Siebren.” That honor was usually reserved for his closest friends. He couldn’t help but hope that she’d become one. “My computer...stopped working. I wish I could tell you more,” he said, turning his head to look at it.

Anya approached it and Siebren floated to the side a bit, allowing her to access it. She walked forwards and sat down at the computer, noting the error text on screen.

A few hundred frustrated keystrokes and half an hour later, the login screen appeared.

“There! All set,” she said, standing up. “I’m sorry it took so long.”

“Nonsense. You fixed it, and that’s all that matters,” he said, giving a warm smile. He floated down, placing himself firmly on the floor, and held out one hand towards Anya.

It was then that she really got a good look at the man. He was about two feet taller than her, with broad shoulders and a fairly thin waist. His eyes were the most beautiful periwinkle blue, his cheekbones were wide and defined, and his smile was captivating. He was clearly an older man, but it didn’t bother her in the slightest.

She felt her blood run cold for a moment before reaching out and shaking his hand. Would she ever see him again? She sincerely hoped so.

“Ah...what is your name, mijn kleine?” He asked, smile slipping.

“Oh! Uh, Anya,” she replied, his question pulling her back to reality. She didn’t understand that last part, but she didn’t want to be rude and  _ ask. _

“Anya...a beautiful name,” he remarked, his smile returning. “It’s...after 12:30. Would you...like to join me for lunch?” He asked, hoping beyond hope that the warmth he felt in his cheeks wasn’t visible.

A choice presented itself to her, and she had less than five seconds to make up her mind.

The answer, of course, was obvious.

“Yes, I-I’d love to!” She responded, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically.

His smile strengthened, and he began to shrug off his lab coat. “Wonderful! Shall we be off, then?”

“Absolutely,” she answered, her own smile practically glowing. “Lead the way.”

“No, no. Ladies first,” he countered, draping his lab coat over the back of the chair at the computer. “I insist.”

“Oh, fine,” she said, giving in, rolling her eyes with a smile and walking towards the door.

He followed her out of the lab and across to the elevator. She pressed the button and crossed her arms, waiting. He desperately wanted to reach out and place a hand on her shoulder, but he kept his hands to himself - he didn’t know how she’d react.

The elevator ride was quiet, and Anya briefly wondered if this had been the correct decision. She didn’t know what to say, having just met the man, so she kept her mouth shut.

He kept stealing glances at her, similarly unsure of what to say. He didn’t have the same doubt in his mind, however; he was content in simply sharing this time with her. Words would come later.

Eventually they made it into the company cafeteria. They got in line, got their lunches, and Anya was the first to get to the register. She reached into her pocket for her card, but Siebren stopped her.

“Don’t worry about it, mijn kleine. I’ve got this one.”

Her heart jumped into her throat. Was this a date? “A-Are you sure? I-I mean—”

“I’m sure.” He simply smiled and stepped forwards, pulling out his own card.

She hoped she wasn’t blushing...or dreaming, for that matter.

“Come now, let’s find a place to sit.”

“Y-Yes, doctor.”

“Ah-ah, what did I tell you?” He teased, looking down at her with a smile.

“Sorry...Siebren.” His name tingled on her tongue as if it were electricity.

They chose a table meant for two and began to eat.

“So, Anya,” Siebren began, having finally thought of something to hopefully start a conversation. “How long have you worked here? I’ve never seen you before.”

She swallowed and took a sip of water before beginning. “Two years. I’m...not actually an IT person, I just did Steve a favor...I’m just a programmer.”

He wagged a finger at her. “No, you aren’t ‘just’ anything. Don’t talk down about yourself, even if it’s only a little bit.”

She couldn’t stop herself from blushing. He was too nice. She wondered if he was this nice to everyone. “Ah...sorry. Uh, anyway, yeah, I’ve been here two years now. Working on various projects. Right now, I’m working on fixing some bugs in a program we’ve had for a few years,” she explained.

“Fascinating,” he remarked with a hint of a smile. “Which program?”

“Darkreign. Do you know it?”

“I do. I can’t say I’ve used it much, but I know of it. Last I heard, it had quite a few problems, so I’m glad someone’s taking care of it.”

She nodded with a smile, feeling proud of herself. “It’s pretty broken, but I’m taking care of it. Slowly, but surely.”

There was a pause as neither of them knew how to continue the conversation.

Anya finally spoke up again. “On that note, what do you do here?”

He knew this question would be coming and had been mentally preparing his answer in advance. “I’m an astrophysicist. My research centers on gravity and how to overcome it.”

Her eyes widened, lighting up as if all the stars in the sky were in them. “That sounds so cool!” She exclaimed. “You must be doing well with it, since you were floating earlier.”

His face fell a bit, and Anya wondered if she’d said something wrong.

“Ah...yes and no,” he started, unsure of how to explain his...situation. “That is the result of...an experiment gone wrong.”

“Oh…” She wasn’t sure whether she should be looking at him, or her lunch. “I...I take it this isn’t something you wish to discuss?”

“On the contrary, mijn kleine,” he said, “I am more than willing to discuss it; however, now is...perhaps not the best time. Not here.”

“Ah. I understand.” She gave a nod and returned to her lunch, wondering what exactly had happened to the doctor. She’d find out soon enough, she reasoned. Whenever he was ready.

The rest of lunch went by fairly quietly, both of them being too preoccupied with eating to be able to say much. Only when Siebren noticed Anya smiling to herself did he speak up again.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” He asked, wearing a smile of his own.

“W-Well, uh…” she stuttered, unsure of how to tell him. She couldn’t exactly confess anything, they’d known each other for about an hour and a half by that point. “I’m...having a good time, that’s all. Usually I eat lunch alone. This is a welcome change.” Crisis averted.

His smile brightened as he sensed an opportunity. “If that’s the case, would you like to join me more often?”

She felt like her heart left her chest entirely and ascended to heaven without her. “Y-Yes, that sounds great,” she said, attempting to keep her cool and hopefully restart her heart.

He let out a chuckle, hearing the ever-so-slight breathlessness in her voice. “Wonderful. Let’s get rid of this stuff and get going, shall we? No doubt your supervisor is probably looking for you.”

She gave a shrug. “Eh, maybe. Maybe not. Hopefully Steve did his job and told Sam he sent me on a mission.”

They both stood up and cleared their places before heading out, back to the elevator.

“What floor is your desk on? Please, allow me to accompany you back,” Siebren said, pressing the elevator call button.

“Oh, uh, fourth floor,” she answered. “And yes, I think I’d like that.” She smiled - an excuse to spend more time with him? Yes please.

Wordlessly, he smiled back.

It wasn’t long before the elevator arrived. The pair stepped in, the doors sliding shut behind them.

The ride was once again quiet, but this time there was far less anxiety, less doubt. In their stead, a bond was beginning to form between the two.

The doors slid open at the fourth floor and Siebren gestured to Anya to go first. She gave a nod and stepped out of the elevator, with him close behind. She led him to her desk, halfway across the building from the elevator.

“Well, here we are,” she announced as she turned the corner into her office. “Thanks again, Siebren. I had a great time.”

He smiled warmly at her, folding his hands in front of him. “You’re quite welcome, mijn kleine. I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

“Absolutely. What time do you want me to come?”

“Oh, no, I was thinking I’d come get you. If that’s alright with you, anyway.”

“O-Oh, yes, that’s fine too!”

He was actually impressed with himself - she looked genuinely happy, and he knew it was because of him. He sincerely hoped that he could keep it up. “Then it’s settled. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow around noon.”

“Alright, see you then. Have a good afternoon,” she said cheerily, spinning her chair around and sitting down in it.

“Thank you, mijn kleine. You do the same.”

With that, he turned around and walked away, back towards the elevator to return to his lab.

Anya sat at her desk, trembling a bit, heart racing. She’d never been one to go for older men before, but this was different somehow. He was charming, fascinating, and attractive, and he’d taken up residence in her heart without him even knowing. It was then that the anxiety set in - why on earth would he ever like her back, she wondered. This was just a professional friendship, nothing more. And she figured she’d be a fool for wanting more. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and attempted to return to her work.

Meanwhile, Siebren walked slowly down the hall, already missing his lunchtime companion. It wasn’t often he got to meet new people, especially not adorable ones like her. He wondered how oblivious she was to his intentions. He smiled to himself, realizing it was just like a game of chess - a game of chess where he had the advantage, because his opponent didn’t even realize she was playing. If he took his time and made the right moves, he reasoned, there was no way he could lose.


	2. Chapter 2

Anya arrived at her desk the next morning, plopping her bag in the corner and her backside into her chair. She attempted to get right back to where she’d been the previous evening, but she was quickly interrupted.

“Good morning, Anya!”

“Morning, Steve,” she replied, turning to face him. “Whose computer do I have to fix this time?” She asked, smirking.

“Oh, no, I came to kindly request that you join me for lunch today.” He leaned against the wall, smiling. As if she hadn’t totally shot down that idea yesterday, but whatever.

“Oh.” Her expression turned sour, almost cold. “I’m sorry, I already have plans.”

He looked taken aback. “Really? You  _ never _ have lunch plans. Who’re you meeting?”

If she could have stopped time, she would have. But she had less than five seconds to come up with a satisfactory answer. Hoping she didn’t look like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car, she chose her words carefully.

“It...it’s not really important,” she said, frowning. “Just a friend.”

He nodded - he had no choice but to accept that, as pressing would push her further away from him. “I understand. How about tomorrow, then?”

She bit her lip for a moment - she knew what she  _ wanted _ for the next day, for every day in fact, but she didn’t have anything concrete. “I don’t know yet. I’ll have to let you know.”

A small victory, he figured - though it was barely a victory. He’d just have to take it. “Alright! I’ll see you later then.”

“Mmhm...see ya.”

She turned back to her computer with a sigh and buried her face in her hands for a few moments before looking back up at her monitor. It was time to get things done.

Before she realized it, noontime had rolled around and there was a knock on the open office door.

“Good afternoon, Anya,” came the familiar deep and pleasant voice.

She looked up, head snapping towards the source of the sound. He smiled at her, and she smiled back, genuinely happy to see him. “Afternoon, Siebren.”

“Are you in a good place to leave? I’d hate to tear you away from your work while you were in the middle of something.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m in a fine place to leave. I just have some debug statements to clear out before I can push the branch.”

He didn’t entirely understand that last part, but the important part was that she said she could leave. “Wonderful. Let’s be off, then.”

Without another word, she stood up and smoothed her skirt before practically bouncing out of the office behind him.

Unbeknownst to her, Steve had been watching from across the hall. He’d been planning on following her to the cafeteria to see who she was meeting. He hadn’t expected the person would show up to pick her up. And, to his shock, it was none other than Dr. Siebren de Kuiper. It was Steve’s own fault Anya was busy. His hand tightened into an angry fist, but then it relaxed - they couldn’t be  _ together _ together. He was old, after all; there was no way Anya would want to date someone who was old enough to be her father.

He swallowed hard. There was no way. Was there?

In the cafeteria, the pair once again chose a table meant for two and sat down.

“So, how’s your day been?” Siebren asked, hoping to start a conversation.

“Oh, fine,” Anya answered, before she remembered that morning. She winced for a moment, before forcing her expression back to a neutral one, hoping he hadn’t noticed.

He had. “What’s the matter, mijn kleine?”

She sighed. She couldn’t lie to him with a clean conscience. He’d been so kind to her, and telling lies was no way to repay that. “I had to turn down Steve the IT guy’s offer for lunch today.”

Siebren’s blood ran cold for a moment. Did he have competition? “Had to?”

“Of course,” Anya began. “I couldn’t exactly cancel on you, even if I wanted to. It’d be rude.”

He nodded slowly - he couldn’t fault her there. “Well, that’s true. I would have taken no offense to it, but thank you for being so considerate.”

She wished she could make him understand exactly how much she wanted this time with him. “Hey, it’s not a problem. I just...would rather spend my time with you than with him, to be perfectly honest with you.”

He relaxed at that. Perhaps there wasn’t as much competition as he’d feared. “Again, thank you, mijn kleine. I appreciate it.”

She closed her eyes and smiled a wide, toothy grin.

Chuckling, he resisted the urge to reach out and gently pinch her cheek. “Come now, eat. You must be hungry.”

“I don’t know, have you looked at me? I could stand to skip a few meals,” she said, mostly in jest. Mostly.

His face suddenly took on a stern appearance. “You’d better not. That’ll do more harm than good, I’m afraid.”

She frowned, looking down at her belly. “I know, but…”

He shook his head. “No buts. Eat. You need to.”

She grumbled, but reached for her sandwich anyway, taking a bite.

“Good, good girl,” he said quietly, before he could stop himself.

She felt her entire body go warm and she just knew she was blushing madly.

“Well, uh, anyway…” she said after swallowing. “How...has  _ your _ day been?”

A sly smile spread across his face. “Wonderful.”

They got through the rest of lunch without incident, and Siebren once again accompanied Anya back to her desk.

“See you tomorrow, then?” He asked as she took her seat.

Her smile widened and she nodded. “Definitely.”

“Wonderful. I’ll be back at noon tomorrow. Have a good evening, mijn kleine.”

“Thanks. You too, Siebren.”

With that, he turned around and left the office, taking the slow stroll back to the elevator. He couldn’t stop thinking about how her smile practically glowed as she said farewell to him. Soon, he reasoned, it would have to be time to make a more obvious move. Little shows of affection were fine, but soon it would be time to do something bigger.

As Anya sat at her desk, trying to get him out of her head long enough to get some work done, she was interrupted by another familiar voice.

“So, that’s your friend, huh?” Steve asked, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, wearing what can only be described as a shit-eating grin.

She turned to face him, still blushing a bit, which did not go unnoticed. “Yeah, that would be him.”

“Friends in high places, I see. Lucky you,” he said, trying to hide the venom in his voice. “Next thing I know, you’re going to be bumping elbows with Dr. O’Deorain.”

She gave a shrug. “I don’t think so. I do have to thank you, though. You’re the reason I met him, and he’s turned out to be…” she paused briefly, thinking of something to say that didn’t betray her true feelings. “A very good friend.”

Steve let out a slight chuckle. “You’re quite welcome,” he lied. He’d been kicking himself knowing he sent her directly to someone who she clearly liked more than him. “Well, ah, I should be going. Systems to check and everything. See you later, Anya,” he said, turning and leaving before she could reply. He needed some time to formulate his next move.

“Yeah...see you,” she said to no one, staring out the door where he left.

Well, at the very least he’d succeeded in getting Siebren off her mind. It was time to get back to work.

The next day at noon, as promised, Siebren showed up and whisked her away to the first floor for lunch. However, on the elevator ride back up to the fourth floor afterwards, the mood went dark.

“Anya.”

“Yeah?”

He looked directly into her eyes, and she felt a chill run down her spine. He looked stern and almost a bit scary. “If ever I don’t come to your desk, please do not come looking for me.”

“Uh, okay?” She waited for an explanation, some more information, anything, but it never came. He just turned his head to face forward again.

The walk back to Anya’s desk was quiet, and it worried her. Was something wrong?

“Goodbye for now, mijn kleine,” he said softly, before making a snap decision.

He reached for her hand and took it in his, before she could react. He lifted her hand to about the height of her eyes, then bent down the rest of the way and pressed a quick kiss to the back of her hand.

She let out a gasp, covering her mouth with her free hand. Her face was bright pink, and her heart rate spiked.

Without another word, he let go and turned around.

“G-Goodbye!” She called after him as he walked away smiling.

He wondered briefly if he’d made the right decision. But the music in his head was growing louder, and he had the feeling he wouldn’t be seeing her tomorrow. Hopefully, he’d given her what she needed to get through the next day without him.

She stood there for a moment, shaking, stunned. Maybe he did like her after all.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, at 12:30, Anya looked up and realized that Siebren was late. For as long as she’d known him (three days, now) he’d always been punctual. This was quite out of character for him. It worried her greatly, and she wondered what she should do.

She decided on action, her quickly-beating heart guiding her as she got to her feet and went to the elevator, pressing the button for the seventh floor.

She’d completely forgotten his warning from the previous day.

Crossing the hall to his lab, she knocked on the door, but no response came. She could see there was a light on inside, so she knew he was in the building.

“Siebren? It’s me,” she called out, wondering if he was inside working, lost in an equation. Again, no response came.

She tried the doorknob and it turned. The door was unlocked, and she pushed it open, taking a couple of steps inside. “Siebren?” She called again, looking around.

“...Hold it together…” A mutter came from her left.

She moved towards it. “Siebren, are—”

Well, she’d found him.

He sat on the floor behind his desk, rocking back and forth, both hands on his head, mumbling to himself, mostly in a language that Anya did not speak.

“Siebren!” She exclaimed with a gasp, her hands flying to cover her mouth. She removed them just as quickly, though, as she knelt down by his side. “Siebren, are you—” No, that was stupid, of course he wasn’t okay. “What’s wrong?”

The familiarity of the voice was enough to bring the pieces of his mind back together, at least enough to look up at the voice’s owner.

“An...ya…?”

She nodded furiously. “Yes, it’s me, what—what’s happened to you?”

He struggled to come up with the words to explain his situation, though the melody in his head had died down somewhat. He could hear his own thoughts again. A dim memory emerged, of him telling her he’d explain the experiment gone wrong later. He could have laughed. Well, now was as good a time as ever, wasn’t it.

“The black hole…”

“Black hole?” Anya repeated. Confused and concerned, she failed to see how a black hole factored into anything.

He nodded, his rocking ceasing. “It touched me.”

Another memory showed up out of the darkness in his mind - this time, of him specifically telling Anya not to look for him.

“Told you...not to look for me. Didn’t...want you to...see me like this...”

Eyebrows low in confusion, she scanned his face for a moment before remembering he totally did tell her that. Her eyebrows flew upwards, eyes widening. “I-I’m so sorry, I forgot! D-Do you want me to leave?”

“No. Don’t.” He couldn’t have her leaving now, not when her voice, her presence, brought him so close to returning to reality. He reached a shaky hand out towards her, landing on her shoulder. “Keep talking. Please.”

“Keep talking?” She repeated, eyes widening. “I-I don’t have that much to say!”

_ “Please,” _ he begged her. He’d never had this happen before, usually nothing could bring him out of his episodes, he just had to ride them out by himself. But Anya was a calming, soothing presence, and he  _ needed _ to hear her voice.

He sounded so desperate, and she wasn’t about to let him down. Not after yesterday. “O-Okay, I’ll try! I can’t promise anything, but I can certainly try!” She paused for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. “Uh...oh, man, I don’t know what to say, I’m not that interesting a person. I mean, all I do is go to work and go home, and at home all I do is sit at the computer for hours on end until it’s time to go to sleep and start the cycle over the next day,” she said, growing more and more ashamed of herself. “I don’t have a life. To be honest...you’re the best thing that’s happened to me since I started this job.”

He gave a weak smile. “Tell me...more about you.”

“Ah...my full name is Anya Rose Anderson. I’m 25 years old. My favorite color is blue. I love Japanese food, I could eat it for every meal and never get tired of it. I love video games, I play them all the time when I’m not working,” she babbled, trying to think of her favorite things so she could tell him. It felt kind of odd, but she knew he needed this, needed her.

She went on for a little while longer until Siebren squeezed her shoulder, stopping her cold. “Alright. I think...I think I’m okay now,” he said, removing his hand from her shoulder and letting it drop to his side. He could hear himself think again, and the melody had all but subsided. “Thank you, Anya. Thank you so very, very much.”

She blushed and put a hand to the back of her neck. “It’s no problem, really...I don’t mind helping.”

“You’ve helped me a great deal today,” he said, attempting to get up.

Instinctively, Anya reached out and put her hands on his shoulders. “No, don’t, you should rest,” she said, trying to push him down.

He was far stronger than she was, though, and got up just enough to sink into the office chair a couple of feet away. “Thank you, mijn kleine. But the floor is nowhere to rest,” he said, gesturing towards a spare chair in the corner.

Anya stood up and went over to it, dragging it back to Siebren’s desk and sitting down next to him, facing him. “What happened?” She asked, still confused.

He sighed deeply and frowned, looking at his hands. “During an incredibly important experiment, something went wrong and a black hole was formed for a moment. It touched me, and it...changed me,” he explained, not looking up. “I spent years in solitary confinement. I never thought I would see the outside world again. But I was rescued, and I learned to control my power over gravity.” To demonstrate, he motioned with one hand and a pencil on his desk began to float. He motioned again and it fell back down. “I’ve been getting a lot better. I can think clearly again, I can perform my research, I can even socialize. But today was a clear indicator that...perhaps I’m never going to be the same.”

Anya felt her heart break for him, and she put one hand on her chest. “I’m...I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “I know what that’s like...knowing something has changed you irreparably. And I’m so sorry that’s happened to you.”

“I appreciate it, mijn kleine. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

It was quiet for a moment, neither knowing what to say to the other.

Suddenly, Siebren’s tired mind put together a couple of pieces from what Anya had said. “Something has changed you too?”

“Uh...yeah,” she replied, looking away, towards the floor. She didn’t want to go into it, but...he’d told her his story. Wasn’t it only fair that she returned the favor?

“What happened to you? Ah...if it’s alright that I ask,” he added hastily.

“It...it’s fine. I just...I’ve been…” She took a deep breath. “Abused,” she finished.

Well, that certainly caught his attention. He looked at her with worry in his beautiful eyes. “Mijn kleine…”

“What does that mean?” Anya asked, seizing the opportunity to change the topic.

He froze, and he felt his cheeks heating up. “It’s...a Dutch term of endearment.”

“Meaning what, though?” She cocked her head to one side slightly.

He sighed - she was too cute like that. “It means ‘my little one.’ I...I hope you don’t mind that I’ve been calling you that.”

She smiled. That was...cute. “I don’t mind at all. I just wanted to know what it meant.”

“Good. Then I’m going to continue.” He paused, and came up with a question for her before she could say anything further. “Have you eaten lunch?”

She shook her head. “No. I...I came here after I realized you hadn’t come to pick me up.”

“You should go eat.”

“I want to stay with you.” Was that too obvious?

“I’ll be fine, mijn kleine, but you won’t be if you don’t eat.”

She rolled her eyes and poked her stomach with one finger. “Look at me. I’ll be fine if I skip a meal.”

He shook his head. “No, you won’t be. Please, my dear. Go eat something.”

“What about you? I assume you haven’t eaten either,” she said, deflecting.

“I will eat after I rest some,” he said simply. “Now, go. I will see you tomorrow. Thank you again for helping me.”

“You’re welcome, Siebren. See you tomorrow.” She smiled at him and stood up, walking away.

In the elevator, Anya’s finger hovered near the panel of buttons. She had a choice: she could go to the first floor and eat lunch alone, or she could go to the fourth floor and only pretend she’d eaten.

She pressed the button for the first floor with a deep sigh. She couldn’t let him down. No matter how much she wanted to.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a Friday, and Anya was looking forward to one thing and one thing only: the weekend. Well, that and lunch with Siebren, but that happened every day. Sleeping late and playing video games all day did not.

So she was surprised when she was given something else to look forward to.

He put down his fork and looked her in the eyes. “Anya?”

“Yeah?”

His pulse quickened, mostly in anticipation of her response. “How would you feel about coming with me to do some field research tonight?”

“Field research? Tonight?” She repeated, confused.

“Indeed. Tonight, I’m going out to Grand Lake Gardens to observe the stars. Would you want to come with me?”

Her eyes widened slightly. She loved the gardens, and she’d never been there at night before. Plus, she’d be there alone with Siebren. There was no way she could refuse. “I’d love to,” she said, trying to hide the excitement that threatened to leak out through her words. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and she struggled to keep it within acceptable limits.

“Wonderful,” he said, developing a smile himself. His pulse started to go back down. “Where do you live? I’ll pick you up at 9.”

“Oh, uh, 132 Sapphire Lane. Apartment 104.” She paused for a moment, before coming up with an idea. “I-If you give me your number, I could text it to you.”

He admired her for a moment, smile turning into a smirk. That was a clever move.

“Of course. May I see your phone?”

Hand trembling ever so slightly, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, pressing her thumb to the fingerprint reader to unlock it. She handed it to him, leaving it on the home screen, forgetting entirely about her silly background until it was too late.

Fortunately for her, he didn’t care about the background as he went into the contacts list and added himself in. He carefully handed the phone back to her when he was finished, and she stared at it for maybe a moment too long. There it was, she had his number.

She quickly fired off a text message to him with her address, and his phone went off in his pocket. He pulled it out and marked it as read before adding her number to his contacts.

She didn’t have to know he put a heart next to her name. That’d be his little secret.

“Thank you,” he said, putting his phone back into his pocket and returning to his lunch.

“No problem,” she replied with a smile, having already put her own phone away.

Afterwards, as usual, Siebren walked her back to her desk.

“I’ll see you tonight, mijn kleine. Have a good evening,” he said with a smile, gently placing a hand on her shoulder for a moment.

“You too, Siebren. See you later,” she replied, sitting down.

Saying he had nothing left to say would be a lie, but he turned around and left anyway. It’s best to leave some things unsaid, at least for now. One move at a time, he thought. She’d made a very interesting move during lunch, and now it was his turn to counter. The game was heating up.

From across the hall, Steve overheard them talking and immediately he felt a stab of jealousy. “See you tonight?” He repeated to himself in a mutter. From hearing that, he just knew the worst had come to pass. They were officially dating, he reasoned, and now it was time to step things up.

He waltzed into the office across the hall. “So, Anya…”

“Hi, Steve,” she said, without looking away from her monitor.

“So, you’ve been a very busy lady at lunchtime recently,” he remarked, “haven’t you?”

She finally turned to look at him. “I suppose you could say that.”

“How about dinner then? Tomorrow night. My treat.”

She gave a weak smile. “I’m sorry, I’m...busy tomorrow night.”

“Are you sure? C’mon, you never have weekend plans. Let me take you out. I promise it’ll be a good time,” he said, trying to persuade her into agreeing.

But she was firm. “I really can’t drop my plans. I’m really sorry,” she said. She didn’t have to tell him what her plans actually were.

“How about Sunday then?” He countered, desperately trying to grab hold of her. What did Dr. de Kuiper have that he didn’t?

She shook her head. “No, Steve. I don’t want to give up my only free day. I need some time to myself, you know.”

He nodded - that was fair, he supposed. He sighed before replying. “You make a good point. I’ll try again next week.”

She was going to have to break it to him at some point, but she was afraid of the outcome. “Ah...sure?”

“Farewell for now, Anya.” He slipped out of the room, thinking he’d scored another tiny victory.

Anya sincerely considered lodging a complaint with human resources.

Before long, she was home again, and changed out of her work clothes into something more comfortable, yet presentable - jeans and a nice shirt. She glanced at the clock - 6 PM. Three long hours to go until she saw Siebren again. She had plenty of time to think about every single way tonight could go wrong, and knowing her anxiety, she would.

As 9 PM drew closer and closer, she found herself pacing in her living room. Her phone went off, startling her, and she snatched it up off the coffee table in a panic.

_ 1 New Message _   
_ Siebren _ _   
> On my way._

Her heart did a peculiar little flutter as she read it. Trembling, she quickly typed her reply.

_ < Ok! _

Was that too enthusiastic? Should she have left off the exclamation point? Should she have spelled out “okay” or was it fine the way it was?

She could have slapped herself - she was acting like a lovesick teenager. But she couldn’t help it. There was just something about him that drove her crazy.

Before long, her phone went off again.

_ > I’m here. _

_ < Be right out! _

She didn’t have enough time to doubt her message this time as she slipped on her shoes and slipped out the door. As promised, outside her building there was a car she didn’t recognize with a driver she absolutely recognized. She hesitated for a moment, almost as if waiting for permission to enter. With an unsteady hand, she reached out and opened the passenger side door. “Good to see you again,” she said with a lopsided, nervous smile as she sat down and buckled herself in.

“Good to see you as well.” His smile was much more confident than hers as he drove off.

Anya heard the doors lock automatically, and she realized she was now stuck - he could have taken her anywhere he wanted, and she’d just be along for the ride. Her anxiety levels were off the charts as he drove; the ride was silent, she couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

Neither could he. His mind was similarly stirred up, though for different reasons. He’d had her in this close proximity to him before, at work, but this was different. She was in his car, this close to him, and it was driving him crazy. But he couldn’t just do anything, his moves had to be calculated. In the car on the way to the park was not a great place to make a move.

He kept looking over at her, as if to make sure she was doing alright. He noticed she was staring out the window to her right. “What’s on your mind, mijn kleine?”

The question jerked her back to reality from her racing thoughts. “Hm? Oh, uh, nothing,” she lied.

“Alright. We’re almost there,” he said, accepting her lie. He had the feeling she wasn’t being truthful, but he didn’t want to press the issue. 

He pulled into a parking space near the heart of the park and turned off the car. Anya got out as Siebren opened the trunk. She panicked for a moment before watching him pull out a telescope, a notebook with a pen attached, and a large basket.

“D-Do you want me to carry anything?” She asked, watching him put the basket down on the ground so he could close the trunk.

“Oh, no. Thank you, though,” he said, picking the basket up again and starting to walk towards a hill. “This way. This is one of the best spots for viewing the stars.”

She followed him like an obedient puppy, and they both scaled the hill. At the top, he pulled a blanket out of the basket and spread it over the grass before proceeding to set up the telescope. He flipped open his notebook to an empty page, clicked the pen, and began to observe the stars.

Anya sat down next to him, staring up at the sky. The stars were so visible here. She smiled, having forgotten her worries for a moment. 

Siebren looked over at her to check on her, and his heart nearly stopped. Drenched in the pale moonlight and smiling angelically, she looked absolutely beautiful. He wanted nothing more than to reach over and gently turn her head towards him so he could press his lips to hers…

But alas, that couldn’t happen yet. He wasn’t sure she even wanted things to go the same way he wanted them to. The phone number stunt was a clue, but he wasn’t convinced. So he returned to his observations, scribbling notes on his notebook and staring into his telescope.

It didn’t take long until Anya got bored of staring at the stars. She looked over at Siebren, engrossed in his work, and felt a pang of desire hit her squarely in the chest. He looked wonderful in the moonlight, and she wanted to reach out and touch him, to hug him, something, anything. But she couldn’t. She didn’t think he wanted that. He was so busy right now, and she wondered why he’d even brought her. He wasn’t speaking, he was just making notes on the stars.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and noticed a text.

_ 2 New Messages _   
_ Julia _   
_ > Well good luck anyway! _ _   
_> So?? How’s it going?? :O

Right. In her spare time she’d unloaded onto her friend. She’d been so anxious on the car ride over that she hadn’t noticed her phone go off.

_ < Not great. He’s just...doing his work. I don’t even know why I’m here. _

_ > Aww :C I’m sorry! At least you have your phone? _

_ < I guess so. I’m just...disappointed. Though I’m not sure what I was expecting. It’s not like we’re dating or anything. He’s just a friend. _

Letting out a sigh, she looked up from her phone and off to the side, over the lake, the water’s ripples sparkling in the moonlight. It felt like an eternity had passed since they’d gotten there and it’d only been half an hour, according to her phone’s clock. How long could he possibly take notes for? Granted, there were a lot of stars. But he couldn’t possibly be taking notes on all of them. Could he?

She sighed again and lay down on the blanket, arms out to the sides. The stars were beautiful, but she’d never felt more alone beneath them.

“Come here.”

She sat upright again, inquisitive. “What is it?”

“I want you to look at this.” He pulled away from the telescope and moved to the side a bit, enough for Anya to be able to slide in.

There might as well have been a question mark floating over her head as she scooted over and put her eye to the telescope’s viewfinder. “What am I supposed to be seeing?”

“The Corona Borealis,” he answered. “In mythology, it’s the crown Ariadne wore at her wedding to the god Dionysus. Afterward, she threw it into the sky.”

As she listened, she kept looking. “Is there something special about it?”

“Not necessarily. It’s just a lovely constellation with a nice story. Don’t you think?” He said, smiling to himself.

Now it was time to move.

He gently placed one of his large, strong hands at the very top of her back and slowly dragged it downwards, stopping and reversing once he reached her lower back.

At the touch, her blood ran cold for a moment, before she began to heat up in a full-body blush. He was rubbing her back while showing her a constellation with a love story attached to it.

Her mouth suddenly felt dry. “Y-Yeah, it is…” She replied finally. She wanted this moment to last forever, but at the same time she wanted to wrench herself away from the telescope and fling herself into his arms.

Finally, she made the heart-wrenching decision to lift her gaze from the telescope to his face. He smiled serenely down at her, but he removed his hand from her back, and she wanted to scream, to beg him not to stop, but...she didn’t do either of those things.

“Did you eat dinner?” He asked, knowing she’d threatened to skip meals in the past.

She nodded her head. “Yeah. Why do you ask?”

“I brought dessert,” he said simply, reaching behind him and grabbing the basket, pulling it into his lap. “Would you like some?”

She smiled at him. “I would.”

He reached inside and pulled out two packets of cookies, handing one to Anya before placing the basket back behind him.

She examined the packet for a moment. “I hate to sound rude, but what...are they?”

He opened his own packet and pulled one out, biting in. “Stroopwafels. Try one.”

Eyebrows raised, she obeyed, opening the packet and taking one out, looking at it for a moment before taking an experimental bite. “Oh, this is good!”

“I’m glad you think so,” he replied, eyes glinting in the low light. “I must admit I have somewhat of a sweet tooth, and these are my favorites.”

“I’ll have to remember that,” she remarked with a smirk.

They sat and ate in silence, just pleased to be near each other.

Siebren in particular felt pleased - he’d pulled off his move. Hopefully it had been obvious enough, but he was simply glad that she hadn’t recoiled when he touched her. How she felt about it, he could only guess, but he was hoping for the best.

Before long, they were both finished. “Alright, I’ve gotten all the notes I need,” he said, turning his attention to the telescope, starting to take it down. 

“Oh, okay.” She stood up and stepped off the blanket so he could pick it up. “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

“I’m sure, but thank you, mijn kleine.” His next move made itself apparent. “Your presence is help enough.”

“O-Oh!” She exclaimed, unsure of how to respond to that. “Ah...thank you.”

He simply smiled at her before folding up the blanket and putting it back into the basket. He picked up all of his belongings and gestured with his head towards the car. “Come now. It’s getting late.”

“It’s not that late, Siebren. It’s only, like, 10:30.”

“When are you usually asleep by?” He asked, starting to walk towards the car.

“11 or later,” she answered. “On a Friday night like this, maybe even 1 AM.”

“I see. I’d advise against staying up so late, but ultimately it’s your decision.”

She gave a shrug. “I sleep late on the weekends, it’s fine.”

They reached the car, and Anya got into the passenger seat as Siebren stowed his things in the trunk, before getting into the driver’s seat.

The ride back to Anya’s apartment was quiet, and it seemed to go quicker than the ride to the park in the first place. It felt like she blinked and she was home.

“Well, here we are. Thank you for joining me tonight, Anya,” he said with a kind smile.

“Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time.” She smiled back, getting out of the car. “Good night, Siebren.”

“Good night, mijn kleine. I’ll see you on Monday. Sleep well.”

“Thanks. You too.”

As she walked away, she felt the unmistakable feeling of sadness settling into her chest. She heard the car pulling away, and she turned to watch. It was over. 

She let herself back into her apartment and flung herself onto her bed, remembering the feeling of him rubbing her back.

There was no way she was sleeping any time soon, she thought, as her heart and mind both raced.

She was in love.


	5. Chapter 5

Going back to work after a weekend was always hard, but after this weekend it was especially difficult. Anya spent the entire drive Monday morning wondering if things were different now, even though nothing that big had happened. So he rubbed her back, big deal. It’s not like he kissed her. Things wouldn’t be different, she concluded. Now if only she could stop worrying about it.

With a sigh, she plunked herself down at her desk and tried to get to work.

Until she was interrupted. “Gooood morning, Anya!”

She took a deep breath and put on a smile. “Morning, Steve.”

“How was your weekend?”

“Just fine, thanks. You seem cheerful this morning,” she noted, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

He gave a shrug. “What can I say? You brighten my day,” he said with a laugh.

Anya’s smile became strained, and she gave a fake, forced laugh. “Thanks…”

“I’m guessing you have lunch plans again?” He asked, keeping his demeanor calm and bright. He didn’t want to scare her, after all.

She nodded. “You got it. I couldn’t possibly cancel on Si—er, Dr. de Kuiper.” Especially not after Friday night. But she didn’t need him knowing that.

He nodded and put up a hand. “I get it, I get it. What’s he got that I don’t?”

Before Anya could answer, he laughed again. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Anyway, if you can’t cancel today, could you  _ please _ let me take you to lunch tomorrow? I do still owe you, after all.”

She briefly wondered if giving in would make him stop. “I’ll...think about it.”

It wasn’t a “no,” and he considered that a victory. “Alright! Well, I have business to attend to now. I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah…” she said, as he turned and practically waltzed out of her office.

It seemed like the morning dragged on, but eventually Anya heard the knock on the office door and the familiar, comforting voice.

“Good afternoon, Anya.”

“Afternoon, Siebren,” she greeted him, her voice sounding flat and unenthused.

He tilted his head slightly. “Is something the matter, mijn kleine?” He felt a wave of panic roll through him, from his heart outwards. Was she not happy to see him? He thought he was ahead in this game, he’d thought his move on Friday put him in a position to win. Was he wrong?

“Ah...no. No, I’m okay,” she said, like a liar. She put on a smile to prove it to him. “Let’s just go.”

He looked at her for a moment, sensing there was something going on. “Alright,” he said anyway, turning and leading her to the elevator.

At lunch, she barely ate; she was just pushing food around on her plate with her fork, and Siebren thought he’d try his luck again.

“Anya. What’s the matter?”

She sighed and looked around, making sure nobody she knew was nearby. “It’s...Steve.”

“Steve?” He repeated. He didn’t know any Steve.

“Yeah. The IT lead. He’s the one who sent me to fix your computer,” she explained. “And therefore, he’s the entire reason I know you.”

“I see.”

“He’s...well…” She started, not looking up from her plate. “He keeps asking to take me to lunch, or even dinner, and it’s...it’s getting really irritating. I don’t like him like that. I thought I was doing myself a favor by befriending him, since he’s the leader of the IT department, but...I never thought it would end up like this.”

Hearing her say she wasn’t romantically interested in this Steve was reassuring, but the rest of what she was saying was alarming. “I assume you’ve been turning him down, then.”

“...More or less,” she admitted. “I haven’t...given him a hard no yet.”

He let out a sigh. “You should really think about doing so.”

“But part of me wonders that...if I just gave him what he’s looking for, maybe he’ll stop.”

Siebren’s eyes widened out of worry and fear. “No,” he said firmly, almost harshly. Perhaps his own feelings were getting in the way. “That isn’t how it works. Men like that...if you give them what they want, they will take and take until there is nothing left of you. Mijn kleine, I will not stand idly by while some two-bit  _ nobody _ breaks you down to dust.”

As he gave his impassioned speech, Anya’s eyes lifted from her plate to meet his gaze. “Y-You mean it?”

“I care about you, Anya. If I can do something to keep you from getting hurt, by God, I will.”

The corners of her mouth turned upwards in her first true smile of the day. “That...really means a lot to me. Thank you, Siebren,” she said, trying not to sound out of breath.

“You’re welcome, my dear. Now, I want you to promise me that next time he asks, you will firmly turn him down,” he told her, a small, soft smile evident on his lips. 

“For you, I’ll do it.” She would do anything for him, but he didn’t have to know that. Yet.

His smile grew. “Good. Now, eat.”

She made a show of picking up a forkful of food and putting it in her mouth, and he let slip a chuckle before returning his attention to his own lunch.

Back at her desk, Anya felt confident - confident enough to tell Steve “no” to his face. She almost hoped he’d show up to ask her out again so she could be brave like Siebren wanted her to.

She wouldn’t get that opportunity until the next morning.

“So, have you decided on lunch today?” Steve asked, sidling up to her.

“I have,” she said, swallowing hard. It was time to act.

“And?”

“No.”

He was taken aback by her bluntness. “No?” He repeated.

“You heard me. The answer is no.”

“How about tomorrow, then?”

“No, Steve. I don’t want to go to lunch with you.”

“I see, so you prefer the company of the good doctor. That’s fine. That’s fine,” he said, putting up his hands for a moment. “What about Friday night? There’s this great Italian place downtown I’d love to bring you to.”

She took a deep breath. “No. I don’t want to go out with you.”

“He put you up to this, didn’t he?” He said, beginning to lose control.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“The doctor.”

He couldn’t possibly know she’d confided in Siebren about him, she thought. But her blood ran cold anyway. “He didn’t put me up to anything. I’ve been hinting at you for a long time now that I don’t want to go out with you, but you haven’t been taking it. So I’m telling you outright: the answer is no.”

For a moment, he didn’t know how to react. Then, he simply nodded. “Alright. I get it. I...I’ll see you sometime, Anya.”

Sullen, he turned around and left.

The good doctor wouldn’t be getting away with this, he thought. Anya was supposed to belong to him. And he was prepared to do anything to make that happen.

Feeling proud of herself, Anya returned to her work. She couldn’t wait to brag to Siebren that she’d done it. So when noon came around, she found herself looking towards the door every so often.

“Good afternoon, Anya,” Siebren said, strolling into the office.

“Guess what?” She said, not even bothering to return his greeting. This would be much better.

“What?”

“I told him no!”

He smiled wide - she’d managed to do it. “Oh, mijn kleine, I’m so proud of you. Come now, this calls for a celebration. Lunch is on me, and I won’t take no for an answer.”

Her face fell. “B-But...you shouldn’t...I-I’m not—I mean, I—”

“Hush, dear. You deserve it. You’ve done something very important and very brave, and I wouldn’t want your effort to go unrewarded.”

Just kiss me instead, she thought. But she couldn’t say that. “Oh, alright. You win,” she said, standing up from her desk and taking a couple steps forward, closer to Siebren.

Failing to contain an urge, he reached out and put a hand on her back, gently guiding her to walk next to him. “Excellent.”

After lunch, he walked Anya back to her desk and said goodbye for the day before heading back to his lab.

There was an envelope taped to the door, right above his nameplate.

Eyebrows low, he took it and opened it. It wasn’t even sealed. There was a single piece of paper inside, and Siebren carefully removed it.

“LEAVE HER ALONE OR ELSE.”

He turned right back around to the elevator and went down to the fourth floor, practically bursting into Anya’s office. “Anya, you need to see this.”

“Siebren? What—”

He held up the note for her to see. “This was taped to my door. I think it’s time for a visit to human resources.”

Anya’s blood ran cold for the second time that day. “Oh my God, I…”

“Don’t panic. Just stop what you’re doing and come with me. This needs to be addressed, and now.”

Face still pale, she nodded a couple of times, saved her work and got up to follow him.

On the ninth floor, the pair of them entered the human resources office. Siebren, leading the way, walked up to the first desk. “We need to speak with someone to report an incident.”

The woman at the desk looked up. “Let me call Janet, she’ll take you into the back room and get a report.”

A few moments later, a woman holding a laptop walked out of the back and up to the pair, leading them into a small conference-style room.

“Now, tell me from the beginning. What happened?”

So Anya recounted the story, all the way from back when she’d first met Steve, finishing off with telling him off that morning. Siebren handed over the note, and Janet’s eyebrows went up.

“This is certainly worth investigating. Thank you, we’ll be in touch.”

“Thank you very much,” Siebren said, standing up. Anya did the same, and followed him out of the office.

Standing waiting for the elevator, everything suddenly became too much for her. Tears overflowed their banks, and against her wishes she had to sniffle, which alerted Siebren to her situation.

“Mijn kleine…” His heart sank, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

“What if they don’t do anything? What if they just...let him get away with it?”

“Then we’ll fight them. He’s caused you enough problems. You deserve to see it end.” He paused. “Do you want to come sit with me in my office for a little while?” His voice was soft and warm.

She nodded, giving another sniffle and wiping at her eyes. “Please.”

In his office, he floated the spare chair over to his desk and sat down in his chair, gesturing for Anya to sit down next to him. He took a couple of tissues out of the box on the corner of his desk and held them out to her.

She sat down and gladly accepted the tissues, using them to clean her face up. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Relax, lov—” He cut himself off and turned a deep shade of pink. Now was  _ not _ the time. “Ah. Um. Relax, Anya. Everything will be just fine.”

She didn’t have the emotional energy to react to his slip-up. She just sighed and stared at the now-crumpled tissues she held. “I’m so tired of this, Siebren. I want it to be over.”

“I know. It will be, soon. I promise you.”


	6. Chapter 6

Months went by without hearing a peep from either human resources or Steve himself. Anya’s life steadily gained normalcy, and she and Siebren steadily grew closer. 

At lunch, Anya stared out the window of the cafeteria, watching the snow fall.

“Mijn kleine, you’re not eating. Are you alright?”

“Wha?” She quickly turned her head back towards Siebren. “Oh. Um...yeah. I’m fine,” she lied.

“Come now, tell me what the problem is,” he said gently, trying to coax her into spilling the beans.

She sighed and stared down at her salad. “I’m not a fan of the holidays. I moved out here by myself for this job, all my family is across the country and I can’t afford to take enough time off to go see them. So it’s just...me, by myself. And it makes me sad, to be honest with you.”

He nodded. “I see. I feel similarly; I don’t have any family left, and I typically spend the holidays by myself as well.”

“Oh...I’m sorry,” she said, feeling bad for him.

Suddenly, he could see his next move clearly. “Do you celebrate Christmas?”

“Yeah, I do. Why?”

“Perhaps we could spend it together. You know, have dinner, watch some movies. Would you be interested?”

She fought the urge to gasp and looked up at him, eyes sparkling. “Y-Yeah, that sounds nice.” Any excuse to spend time with him sounded nice to her.

He smiled wide. “Fantastic. I’d like it if we had it at my house, unless you have any objections to that.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s fine.”

“Wonderful. Now, you need to eat, Anya.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know…” she grumbled, stabbing some of her salad with her fork.

After they were done, they started to walk towards the elevator, and Siebren spoke up.

“Could you accompany me back to my lab? I have something to show you.”

Her heart dropped into her stomach. “Don’t tell me it’s another note…”

“Oh, no, no, it’s nothing like that,” he said reassuringly.

She let out a sigh and put both hands over her heart. “Thank heavens. You scared me.”

“I’m very sorry, mijn kleine. That was not my intention.”

“It’s alright. What is it you want to show me?”

“I received something in the mail and I’d like to...get your opinion on it.” He was trying not to give too much away.

“Oh...alright.” She was still confused, wondering what in all hell it could be, but she decided to go along with it anyway.

Up in his lab, Siebren went to his desk and pulled out a piece of thick paper, handing it to Anya. “Here. Take a look at this.”

She examined the paper for a moment, and her eyebrows furrowed. “Uh...this is just an invitation to the New Year’s ball.” Only the most important people got invited to the New Year’s ball. Was he showing off?

“That’s correct,” he said simply, waiting for her to catch on.

“I mean...if you want to go, then go, you don’t need my permission or anything.”

He smiled; she wasn’t catching on. Perhaps he needed to be a bit more heavy-handed. “Of course not. But you’ll need to buy a dress, won’t you?”

Her eyebrows flew up, her eyes widened, and she looked at him. He was smiling like the cat that got the mouse.

“You...you want  _ me _ to go with you?” She asked, incredulous. She wasn’t sure she could take this much excitement; first the Christmas arrangement, and now this? Her heart was  _ racing. _

“Of course. You’re a lovely girl, Anya, and I would be honored if you joined me.”

She felt her cheeks heating up with an undeniable blush. “I...yes. I will.”

His smile became less smug and more sincere. “Oh, wonderful!” He exclaimed, putting his hands together. “Thank you. You make an old man very happy, mijn kleine.”

She rolled her eyes. “You can’t be  _ that _ old.”

“I’m 62. I’m old enough,” he replied.

And that’s when the age difference between them made itself readily apparent. He was - give her a moment to do the math - 37 years older than her. She worried for a moment - what would people say? But she loved him, and there was nothing anybody could do about it. So she decided that she just didn’t care.

“Like I said. Not that old,” she said with a smirk, handing the invitation back to him.

He chuckled at that. “You flatter me. In any case, you should probably get back to work.”

She stuck out her bottom lip, not wanting to leave him. “Aww, but…”

“No buts, mijn kleine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Her lunch hour was probably coming to a close anyway. “Oh, alright. See you tomorrow, Siebren. And, uh...thank you.”

Before he could reply, she quickly turned and left, carefully closing the door behind her.

Back at her desk, she could barely focus on her work. Every time she looked at the clock, only a few minutes had gone by. She wondered if she should just leave early.

Besides, she had dress shopping to do, didn’t she? The ball was in less than a month.

So, unable to continue working, she punched out early - her bank of time off could definitely handle it - and got in the car, headed to the nearest dress shop.

Timidly, she entered the shop, looking around at all the dresses hanging on the walls. Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed - where should she start, and would they even have her size?

“Welcome, welcome, come on in!” A voice greeted her warmly.

Anya looked towards the source of the voice and saw a woman with a measuring tape draped over her neck headed towards her. “Ah...hi.”

“What’s your name, my dear? And what’s the event you’re shopping for?”

“A-Anya. It’s, uh, Lucentra Corp’s New Year’s ball.”

“Ooh, fancy!” The woman remarked with a smile, putting her hands together. “Do you have an idea of what you want?”

Anya shook her head. “Not really…”

“That’s alright, we’ll find something. Do you have a color you’re fond of?”

“Blue. I love blue. All kinds,” she answered, without hesitation.

The woman nodded. “I can definitely see you in blue. A darker blue, that’d complement your hair nicely. Yes, I think we have a couple dresses in back that you might like. Here, come with me.” She gestured towards the back of the store.

Without a word, Anya followed the woman to the fitting rooms. The woman wrote Anya’s name on the small whiteboard on the door to one of them before showing her inside. “Right in here. Feel free to have a seat,” she said, gesturing to the chair in the room.

“Alright. Thank you,” Anya said, sitting down.

The woman turned and left, closing the door behind her. Anya fought the urge to get out her phone and text one of her friends - she knew the lady would be back with dresses very soon.

And indeed, it seemed like only a couple of minutes had gone by when the saleswoman came back, three dresses slung over her shoulder, all in different shades of blue. “Here we are! Hopefully one of these is to your liking,” she said, hanging them from hooks on the wall. “Just knock if you need help, alright, dear?”

Anya gave a nod and stood up, ready to begin undressing. The woman once again left and closed the door behind her, and Anya was left alone.

The first dress she tried on was an electric blue number with a high neck and no sleeves. It had a mermaid skirt, and she felt she looked extra fat in it. Shaking her head, she took it off again, without even asking the woman’s opinion.

The second one was a deep blue, it was strapless and had a beaded bodice with a long tulle skirt. She felt better in this one, but she wasn’t sure that it was the one. Nevertheless, she turned around and knocked on the door.

The woman came back in. “Oh, Anya, that looks lovely! Did you try on the other two?”

“Just the electric blue one. It’s...not great on me,” she said, looking at herself in the mirror, turning this way and that.

“I see. I’ll take that one, then,” she replied, taking the unwanted dress off the wall. “How do you feel in that one?”

“I mean, it’s beautiful, but...I’m just not sure it’s  _ me.” _

“Understandable. Try on the last one, then; if that doesn’t work out, I’m sure there’s a few others in back I can pull out for you.”

“Okay, thank you.”

As soon as the door shut, Anya took off the dress and hung it back on its hanger before reaching for the third one. The color immediately caught her eye - it was the color of hydrangeas, her favorite flower. The dress was made of a thicker material, good for the winter.

She slipped into it and looked in the mirror. Her breath caught; it was beautiful. It had a large, full skirt, and the bodice had a flowery lace overlay with off-the-shoulder sleeves. There were sparkly beads sewn onto the flowers of the lace, and the longer she examined it, the more she fell in love. Barely able to contain her excitement, she turned around and rapidly knocked on the door.

The woman opened the door, and her eyes widened. “Anya, that’s beautiful!”

Anya’s smile was wide as she stood there, still examining herself in the mirror. She wondered what Siebren’s face would look like when he saw her in it.

“I think this is the one.”

Also smiling, the woman pulled a box of dress pins out of a pocket. “Wonderful. Let me just get these pins in there for the alterations.”

Anya watched as the fit became better, and she felt as though she couldn’t smile any wider than she already was. She hadn’t felt this pretty in years.

After the pins were all in, the woman helped her out of the dress and took it away, marking it as taken. Trying not to look at herself in the mirror, Anya got dressed again and left the fitting room, going up to the sales desk.

She winced when she saw the final total, but she thought it would be entirely worth it. Even if it was just to see his face.


	7. Chapter 7

It seemed like it was a blink of the eyes, and then Christmas arrived. Anya woke up on the 24th, late as usual, and checked her phone.

_ 2 New Messages _   
_ Siebren _   
_ > I know it’s early, but I wanted to send you my address before I forgot. _ _   
> 2201 Fletcher Lane._

The messages had been sent more than an hour ago. She typed up a reply, hoping he wasn’t worried about her.

_ < Thanks! When should I come over? _

Siebren’s phone went off on the table, drawing his attention from the book he read. He smiled upon seeing the sender.

_ > 4 PM sound okay? _

Anya had been about to put her phone back down when it went off in her hand.

_ < Sounds great, thanks :) _

She looked at the clock. 11:30. She had plenty of time to get ready.

First, a shower, using her favorite soap - she didn’t know how close to him she’d get, but just in case, she figured she wanted to smell her best.

Then, she stood in front of her closet, eyes going from item to item, wanting to pick just the perfect outfit. Her eyes eventually landed on a pink sweater with a neckline so large it encompassed her shoulders. Paired with a fairly short black skirt and matching over-the-knee socks, she knew she’d make an impression. She just hoped it would be a good one.

All dressed, she bounced into the living room and pulled out the gift she’d gotten him, along with the wrapping paper, tape, and bows. In a matter of minutes, it was wrapped and topped with a pretty bow. Her wrapping skills weren’t the best, but she’d tried and that’s all that mattered. She placed it on the kitchen table and started to get the cookies ready, putting them into a couple of tins, then placing those on the kitchen table as well.

She looked at the clock. 1 PM. She still had three hours left.

Sighing, she flopped herself down onto the couch, all the bubbliness from the past hour and a half having left her. The anxiety was setting in. Was she overdressed? _ Under _dressed? Did she look as good as she thought she did?

She got up and grabbed her phone, taking it with her to the full-length mirror in her bedroom. She quickly snapped a picture and sent it to her friend.

_ < Julia. Does this look good? _

_ > Oh my goodness you look adorable!! _

_ < I’m wearing it to his house. Good idea? Y/N? _

_ > Wonderful idea! Good luck, baby girl ;) _

Anya’s mouth drew into a thin line - of course Julia would think it’s going in that direction.

It wasn’t...was it? She swallowed hard - she hadn’t thought about him like that before. And now she couldn’t stop. Her face practically glowed pink as thought after racy thought made its way through her mind.

This was going to pose a challenge.

In order to distract herself, she got back on the couch and turned on the TV, hoping to watch _ something _ for the next couple of hours.

It worked; the next time she looked up, it was 3:30. Almost time to leave. She turned off the TV and put on her coat and shoes, gathering the stuff from the table and taking it to the car with her.

Once in the car, she figured she’d let him know she was coming, just to be polite.

_ < On my way! _

_ > See you soon. :) _

His reply sent a warm, fuzzy feeling throughout her. Especially the little smiley face - it said to Anya that he really wanted to see her. Filled with renewed energy, she started to drive off.

As she slowly went up the long driveway to the big house on the hill, she wondered exactly how much money he had that he could afford _ this. _ Well, no wonder he wanted to have it at his place, she lived in a one-bedroom apartment and he lived in what was practically a mansion.

Nevertheless, she gathered up her things and went to the front door, ringing the doorbell and waiting, watching her breath linger in the cold air.

The door opened, and Anya looked up into Siebren’s eyes. “I’m glad you made it safely, mijn kleine. Please, come in,” he said, smiling down at her and gesturing inwards.

She followed him inside. “Should I take my shoes off…?” She asked, unsure.

“Would you, please?”

“Of course,” she replied, slipping off her flats and following him into the rest of the house. “Okay, where would you like these?” She asked, holding out the tins and wrapped present. “I know you didn’t ask me to bring anything, but I felt bad, so...I made cookies.” She gave a shy smile.

“Oh, mijn beste, you didn’t have to,” he said, “but I appreciate it nonetheless. And...what’s this?” He asked, picking up the wrapped present from on top of the cookie tins.

“Ah...I, uh, got you something. I-I hope you don’t mind.” Her face began to turn pink.

He thanked his lucky stars he’d gotten her something too. “I don’t mind at all. I’ll just set it beneath the tree,” he said, placing it next to the gift he’d gotten for her. “As for the cookies, go ahead and set them on the kitchen counter.”

She turned and entered the kitchen, noticing that there were pots and pans on the stove. She set the tins down on the counter before returning to the living room, taking off her coat. “And where shall I put this?”

“There’s a coat rack in the hall—” He cut himself off, getting a good look at what she was wearing. He could just see himself kissing those bare shoulders, all the way to her neck—

His face was growing hot, and he hoped he wasn’t blushing too hard. “Ah. Um. Yes, coat rack in the hall. Near the door,” he finished, sitting down on the couch.

Oh, she’d done this on purpose, he thought. A brilliant move - dazzle your opponent, make them unable to think straight enough to make their next move. Well, too bad for her, he already knew what his next move was going to be. Tonight, he would win this silly game.

She turned and walked away, back into the hallway to hang up her coat. She smiled to herself - she’d seen his face, and it filled her with confidence. She looked good, good enough to distract him. In the hallway, by herself, she did a little victory dance before heading back into the living room.

Instead of flopping herself onto the couch like she would have at home, she carefully sat down at the opposite end from Siebren, though she wished she could get closer. Legs pinned together, she folded her hands over her lap and turned her attention to the TV. One of her favorite Christmas movies was on.

Every so often, Siebren found himself stealing glances over at her. She didn’t move much, she looked stiff and reserved despite the smile on her face. Her laughter seemed genuine enough, and God above it was beautiful - melodic, almost. But he was bothered by the fact that she wasn’t moving.

“Mijn kleine, is everything alright?” He asked, fully turning his head to look at her.

“Of course. Why do you ask?” She replied, tilting her head.

He didn’t want to admit he’d been watching her, but he had to say _ something. _ “Well...you look like you could stand to relax a bit. You look...stiff.”

“Do I?” She knew full well she was holding herself in a lot more than she usually would. She didn’t want to embarrass herself somehow.

“Yes, you do. You know, it’s alright to lean back. I’m not going to judge you for relaxing, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

A shiver ran down her spine. How could he possibly have known? Quickly, she decided to laugh it off. “I’m fine, Siebren, really. Thanks for your concern, though, I appreciate it.”

He wanted so badly to say fuck it, to throw caution to the wind and wrap his arms around her, pulling her in close, but he thought better of it. It wasn’t the right time, and it wasn’t the right move. “If you say so, mijn beste.”

So Anya continued to sit in her stiff, reserved manner as the movie went on, and Siebren continued to glance over at her every once in a while. He couldn’t help it; she was beautiful, and she was in his home. It excited him, knowing such an angel was in his presence.

As the credits to the movie rolled, Siebren stood up. “Hm, dinner should be ready right about now. Come, have a seat at the table,” he said, gesturing towards the dining room.

Anya stood up and padded over to the dining room, where she found a large table set for two. “Ah...which seat should I take?”

“Pick one, mijn beste. I don’t mind,” he replied from the kitchen.

She picked the seat closest to her, hoping she’d chosen correctly - even if there was no correct answer, she still didn’t want to be _ wrong _ somehow.

Soon, all of the dishes had made their way out of the kitchen and onto the table, along with a bottle of wine and a pitcher of water. “Help yourself,” Siebren said, sitting down at the other end of the table.

“Siebren, this looks fantastic! You made all this yourself?”

He nodded sheepishly. “Indeed. I do love to cook, but hopefully it tastes as good as it looks.”

“I don’t doubt that it does,” she replied, reaching for a serving spoon.

Some time later, happy and full, they stood up, and suddenly a couple of the dishes on the table began to levitate - Siebren was floating them back to the kitchen.

“Here, let me help,” Anya said, reaching for a dish.

He gently swatted her hand away. “Ah, no, no, mijn beste, you are a guest in this house; I will not see you lift a finger.”

“O-Oh. A-Are you sure? I mean…”

“I’m positive,” he replied with a smile. He struggled not to turn it into a smirk as he came up with an idea. “A guest as lovely as you deserves to be pampered, to the best of my ability.”

Her face turned bright pink as she averted her gaze and gave a shy smile. “I-If you insist,” she said, making her way back to the couch. She sat back down where she had been previously, almost as stiff as before, though her thumbs rubbed each other in circles as she waited for him to come back.

He sighed quietly, eyeing her as she sat there silently. The wait was almost unbearable, he wanted so badly to make his next move, his winning move, but the time wasn’t yet right.

When he’d finished in the kitchen, he strolled back into the living room and sat down where he had been before. “Anya. Please, mijn kleine. Relax a little bit. You’re making _ me _ feel stiff.”

He was practically begging her to loosen up, and she felt a little bit bad. She let her shoulders droop, but stubbornly refused to lean back.

“Do you need me to show you how to relax?” He asked, smirking. He was almost at the end of his mental rope, but he knew he needed to wait. It was too soon.

“N-No, I’m okay, thank you,” she said nervously, unsure of what he meant by that. Time to change the subject, she figured. “Ah, hey, why don’t you...open your present?”

He momentarily turned his attention to the two gifts sitting beneath the tree. Ah, what the hell, he figured. “Only if you open yours too.”

She tried not to look surprised - there’d never been any mention of exchanging gifts; she hadn’t expected he’d get her something. “Oh! Um, sure!”

Smiling, he motioned with one hand, and both presents began to float. Anya watched as one gently floated directly into her lap, then turned to see Siebren grab onto his and look at it for a moment.

He turned and looked at her. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

“You first,” she said with a hint of a smile.

“Oh, alright.”

She watched with bated breath as his long fingers began unwrapping the box. Watching him take it out of the box, she felt her anxiety spike - would he even like it?

He examined it closely - it appeared to be a watch, but its dial had a diagram of constellations on it.

She spoke up, about to explain the gift. “It’s…”

“A planisphere watch,” he finished, admiring it. “It’s lovely. Thank you, mijn beste,” he said, taking it out of its packaging to set the time on it. “Now, I believe it’s your turn.”

Heart pounding and hands softly trembling, Anya turned her attention to the box on her lap. She tore into the wrapping paper, peeling it aside to reveal what was underneath.

In a clear plastic box, on a bed of red velvet, sat a golden hairband. Little stems of differing lengths branched off the main band, each with a sparkling, clear gemstone or lustrous pearl at the end. It looked like a vine with little flowers. She gasped, holding her hands to her mouth. “Siebren, i-i-it’s beautiful!”

Her reaction was everything he’d wanted it to be. He felt a warm feeling roll through him. “I’m so glad you think so.”

She gingerly opened the box and lifted the hairband out, angling it this way and that to admire it.

“Would you like me to put it on for you?” He asked. He sensed the time to move was drawing near.

“Y-Yes, please,” she said, feeling out of breath. She wondered if the stones and pearls were real, if he’d really spent that much money on her.

He stood up from his seat, moving to kneel in front of her - he was too tall to stand and do it. Kneeling as he was, he was still above eye level on her. He gently took the band from her and slid it into her hair.

“Mijn God, you’re beautiful.”

He put a hand on her cheek and leaned in close, stopping only for a moment, their noses close enough to touch. He angled his head ever so slightly, closed his eyes and closed the gap between them, their lips meeting sweetly.

Checkmate.

Anya’s eyes went wide for a moment before closing as well. She threw her arms around him, pulling herself in closer to him, sending the box in her lap clattering to the floor. This was everything she’d ever wanted.

It felt like an eternity before they finally pulled apart, gazing into each other’s eyes. 

He slowly stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Merry Christmas, Anya.”

She smiled up at him like he was the sun around which her world revolved. “Merry Christmas to you too, Siebren.”


	8. Chapter 8

Anya stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom, dressed and ready for the ball. She was just missing one thing.

In her hands, she held the golden hairband Siebren had given her. Carefully, she slid it into place atop her head. She smiled into the mirror - she looked beautiful.

Realizing he’d be there any minute, she turned around and made her way into the living room. Her white faux-fur coat lay on the couch, and she picked it up, sliding it on. She began to pace the length of the room, trying not to think of all the ways this night could go wrong.

A knock at the door startled her, and she rushed to answer it.

She opened the door to see Siebren standing there, smiling serenely down at her. "Good evening, mi—” He started, but cut himself off, his jaw dropping slightly. "Mijn beste, you...you look absolutely stunning."

She gave a shy smile and a slight giggle. "Thank you, Siebren. You look wonderful yourself."

"Not nearly as wonderful as you," he replied, slightly breathless. His smile grew when he noticed the hairband adorning her head, her hair straightened and pulled up into a bun. “You’re wearing it,” he noted aloud.

“Of course I am,” she said with a playful smirk on her red lips.

“Well, shall we be off, then?”

“Just give me a moment to lock up,” she said, turning back inside to grab her key. She locked the door and held out the key to him. “Could you please keep this safe? I...don’t have any pockets.”

He let out a chuckle and took the key, putting it in a pocket inside his tuxedo coat. “Anything for you, sweetheart.”

“Thank you, dear,” she said with the slightest hint of a giggle.

He held out his hand to her, and she took hold of it. He gently led her down to the waiting car, opening the door for her. She carefully slid herself in, making sure the entirety of her voluminous skirt was within the car. He shut the door and let himself into the other side. “Alright,” he said to the driver, signaling him to take off.

The ride was quiet; Anya stared out the window, watching the world go by, her hands folded neatly in her lap. That is, until she felt a touch on her arm. Siebren’s hand ran down her forearm to her hand, gently prying it away from the other before lacing their fingers together.

“Mijn kleine, are you alright? You seem stiff.”

She nodded. “Just...nervous. I’ve never been to one of these things before…”

He wanted to tell her not to be nervous, but he realized that wouldn’t actually help things. “Just follow my lead. I’ll take care of everything.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze to reassure her.

“Okay…” she said, still unsure. His words were nice, but they did little to quell her anxiety.

As she watched the venue come into view, her heart felt like it descended into her stomach. She was disappointed in herself; she’d been looking forward to this for weeks, and now she was having second thoughts?

She barely noticed the car stopping until Siebren let go of her hand and got out. Out of reflex, she reached for the handle to her own car door, though she stopped short of opening it, realizing he was probably going to open it for her.

She was right - moments later, the door opened, and Siebren held a hand out to her. She took it, and he helped her step out of the car, her blue stiletto heels peeking out from beneath the hem of her dress for just a moment.

There was a fairly short line to the door of the building, at which stood two guards, presumably checking names. When the pair got to the front, Anya’s suspicions were confirmed.

“Names?” One of the guards asked, looking up from the book in front of him.

The cold, uncaring tone the guard took made Anya freeze, but luckily Siebren suffered no such ill effects, answering him coolly.

“Hmm...ah, there you are. Oh, VIPs, huh? Table one. Have a good evening,” the guard said in reply.

As they headed inside, Anya’s eyebrows furrowed and she looked up at Siebren. “VIPs? What?”

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s get your coat checked, shall we?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sure.”

Hand in hand, they walked up to the coat check. Anya slid off her coat and handed it over, the attendant giving her a ticket in return. She turned to Siebren. “Could you…?”

He smiled. “Of course, mijn kleine.” He took the ticket and slipped it into the same pocket as her key.

Once again, he took her by the hand and led her into the main room. It was a huge room, with round tables set up around a wooden dance floor, over which a large chandelier hung. Anya felt breathless taking in everything around her, but Siebren’s voice brought her back to reality. “Let’s find our table.”

“Oh. Good idea,” she replied, starting to look at the numbers set on the tables. 20, 4, 12, 7…

“Ah, there it is. Table one.”

The biggest table in the room, set for ten places instead of the normal eight, Anya noticed. There were already a couple of people seated at the table, deep in conversation. She didn’t recognize any of them, but she wasn’t surprised - she didn’t exactly mingle with the higher-level employees.

Upon arriving at the table, she noticed name tags at each place. As Siebren started talking to the others at the table, she looked around for her name until his voice drew her attention.

“Dear, won’t you introduce yourself?”

She looked up and over at those already seated. “Oh! Uh, hello. I’m Anya. Anya Anderson.” She gave a little wave with her free hand.

“Lovely to meet you, Anya,” one of the seated people said.

Before anyone else could speak up, a voice came from behind Anya. “So  _ this _ is the illustrious Anya I’ve heard all about.”

Anya turned to face the source of the voice. A tall, thin woman in a perfectly tailored tuxedo stood behind her, just about grinning from ear to ear. Anya couldn’t hold in her gasp as she recognized the woman. “D-Dr. O’Deorain!”

“The one and only,” she replied, taking a shallow bow. “She’s cute, Siebren. You’ve chosen well.”

Blushing, Siebren gave a tired smile. “Thanks for your approval, Moira.”

“Y-You guys know each other?” Anya asked, momentarily forgetting to act dignified.

“Unfortunately,” Siebren joked. “We’ve been friends for a couple of years now.”

She looked up at him, eyes wide with disbelief. “You’re just casually friends with the owner of the company?!”

“Well, there’s a bit more to it than that,” he replied, “but we needn’t get into it tonight. Why don’t we sit down?” He asked, eager to steer the conversation someplace else.

“Yes, please,” Anya replied.

They found their name tags, and Siebren pulled out Anya’s chair for her.

“What a gentleman,” Moira remarked with a smirk, sitting herself at her own place.

“You expected less? I’m insulted,” he replied, mostly joking, seating himself as well.

Anya looked around the table at the seated individuals and their name tags. It was then that she realized what the guard at the door had meant by “VIPs.”

They were sitting at the executives’ table.

She stiffened up, overwhelmed. The company’s owner, the CEO and his husband, the CFO and her husband, and more were seated at this table, alongside little Anya the programmer. She felt as if she were in over her head and way out of her league.

Siebren noticed her posture change out of the corner of his eye. “Mijn beste, is everything alright?” He asked in a whisper, leaning towards her.

“I was not prepared to be sitting alongside the frickin’  _ board of executives!” _ She hissed, staring at the table’s flower-laden centerpiece and trying to keep her facial expression under control.

He frowned - he really had done a poor job of preparing her for this night, and he would readily admit it out loud were there not some very important people nearby. “I am sorry, my love,” he whispered, “but do try to relax. Just be polite, and no matter what, do  _ not _ talk down about yourself.”

She didn’t have time to reply to him before someone spoke up.

“So, Anya, what is your position with Lucentra?”

Her head snapped towards the source of the voice - the CEO was speaking to her.

“O-Oh, I’m j—a programmer,” she said, the word ‘just’ almost passing through her lips.

“Ah, very interesting. I’ve never been great with computers; I have a lot of respect for those who are,” the man replied with a smile that Anya thought seemed genuine.

She gave a shy smile in return. “Oh, uh, thank you, sir.”

“Please, we’re all friends here. Call me James.”

Before Anya could reply - which seemed to be a theme of the night thus far - Moira figured it was her turn to speak. “How  _ ever  _ did a programmer and an astrophysicist cross paths?”

So Anya recounted the story of that fateful day, leaving out the part where she was smitten with him on first sight. “And life’s been pretty good ever since,” she finished with a triumphant smile.

“An interesting story for sure,” Moira remarked, reaching out and taking a champagne flute off a tray a waiter brought by.

Oh, good, there’s alcohol, Anya thought. Once the tray was offered to her, she took a flute for herself and began to slowly sip from it. She tried to relax like Siebren told her to, though it was difficult knowing she may be called on to converse at any moment.

Before long, dinner was served. Anya welcomed this, because she had the notion that if people were too busy putting food into their pie-holes, they couldn’t ask her questions. In reality, people just  _ ate slower _ so they could talk between bites. She was used to eating at whatever pace satisfied her; here, she had to control herself better, not wanting to be the first one done, and not wanting to be caught with a mouthful when talked to.

Suddenly, there was music coming from the side of the room - a band was playing, and people were getting up to dance. She was aware of movement next to her as Siebren stood up; she looked up at him, and he held out his hand to her.

“May I have this dance?”

She hesitated. “I...I don’t know how.”

“All you have to do is follow my lead,” he said, smiling softly.

“Okay…” She took his hand and he led her onto the dance floor, in a back corner, so as not to draw too much attention to the couple as he tried to teach her to dance.

He put his right hand on her shoulder blade, his left holding her right out to the side. “Alright, so whatever I do, you do the opposite,” he said quickly, in a low voice. “For example, if I step forward with my left, you step back with your right. Understand?”

“Uh-huh,” she replied hesitantly. “Uh, where do I put my other hand?”

“On my shoulder.”

Obediently, she reached up and placed her hand on his shoulder.

He started off slow, and she angled her head downward to watch what he was doing so she could follow. It was a bit difficult, as her dress was in the way, but she managed. After a minute or two, she came to the realization that he was doing the same thing over and over again - step forward, step to the side, step back, step to the other side. She looked up at him as if to say, is this all?

“Do you think you can handle it while turning?” He asked.

“Turning?” She repeated, unsure of what he meant.

On a step back, he began to turn counter-clockwise, and Anya almost stumbled. “Whoa—!”

“Careful, mijn beste.” He pulled her in a little bit closer to him. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she replied, trying to concentrate on her steps. She was nervous, but being so close to him helped to calm her. She wanted to kiss him, but had the feeling that’d be inappropriate. Looking around, she saw nobody else was kissing. The last thing she wanted was to seem out of place.

After a little while, she found she was having fun. A smile bloomed on her face, and Siebren smiled back. “Having a good time, darling?”

She blushed. “Y-Yeah,” she said, her smile becoming shy.

Then, she noticed Siebren look away someplace behind her, and she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned her head to look.

A man she’d never seen before was standing behind her, to her right. “Might I cut in?”

Anya’s mouth hung open, unsure of what to say.

“I’m teaching her to dance,” Siebren said for her.

“You should also teach her it’s considered in poor taste to dance with the same partner for too long.”

Anya’s upper lip quirked, and she tore herself away from Siebren to turn towards the man. Siebren’s eyebrows went up, realizing what was about to happen - she was about to unleash her mouth. “Anya,  _ don’t _ — _ ” _

It was too late. “And  _ I _ should teach  _ you _ it’s considered in poor taste to speak of someone as if they weren’t standing right in front of you!”

The man looked taken aback - he hadn’t expected pushback. “I am sorry, ma’am, but it’s true.”

She didn’t want to dance with a stranger. It was going to be with Siebren, or not at all.

“I...need to, um, use the restroom. Excuse me,” she said quickly, before making her exit from the situation.

Siebren glared at the man and let out a sigh. He decided he would return to the table rather than try to dance with anyone else - he didn’t feel like it, and he was too worried about Anya’s mental state.

As Anya exited the restroom, she felt someone grab hold of her wrist and pull backwards - hard. She let out a scream that was cut short by a hand clamping itself over her mouth. “Be quiet,” a voice hissed - a voice that was familiar. Too familiar.


	9. Chapter 9

In the main room, a hush fell over the room - what the hell was that, everyone was wondering.

Eyes widening, Siebren came to a realization. “That...sounded like Anya.”

Moira looked at him with low eyebrows, one corner of her mouth turned upward. “Did it really? How can you tell?”

“I just...can. Come with me. Please,” he said, standing up.

She let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, but stood up anyway. “Fine, I’ll play detective with you.”

So she followed him away, towards the restrooms.

“Can you check in the ladies’ room for me?”

“Sure,” she said, flatly.

The wait may have only been a few seconds, but it was agonizing. When Moira came out alone, his heart dropped.

She shook her head sadly. “She’s not in there.”

_ “Shit.”  _ He started to walk away down the hall, into the back of the building. His heart rate began to increase. “She’s in trouble.”

As Anya’s captor dragged her away, she fought valiantly to break free, but his grip on her was too strong. She stumbled down the hallways after him, trying not to twist an ankle in her heels. Her free hand was prying at the hand over her mouth; eventually, she got it off and cried out. “What are you doing? Let me go!”

“No, Anya.”

Her eyes went wide as she realized who was dragging her through the halls. “Steve?! What...what do you think you’re doing?!”

“I think I’m taking you to a place where we can talk this out.”

“Talk what out? There’s—there’s nothing to talk about!”

He ignored her as he came upon a door, which he opened. It had been concealing a set of metal stairs. “Up,” he ordered her, still pulling her by her wrist.

Seeing no other options, she climbed the stairs after him - a challenge in stilettos.

He opened the door at the top and pulled her through it, before swinging her around so he was between her and the door. It took her a moment to realize where they were - the roof.

She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s cold up here…”

“It’s fitting, because you’ve been so cold to me, Anya. What did I do wrong? I’ve been nothing but wonderful to you, and you turned around and left me alone. All I ever wanted was you, Anya.”

“I just don’t feel that way about you! Steve, I want to go back inside, it’s cold and—”

“I don’t care what you want anymore. No, this time I’m taking what’s mine.”

“I do not belong to you!” She yelled defiantly, hands balled into tight fists. “I’m going back inside. This is ridiculous.”

Still blocking the way to the door, he pulled a knife with a six-inch blade out of a holster at his hip. “You will do exactly what I say or you’re going to be sorry.”

Anya’s heart stopped for a moment, and she put her hands up as if there were a gun pointed at her. “P-Put that away, Steve. Let me go, or you’re going to be the one who’s sorry.”

“Oh, please,” he spat, “what are you going to do, shoot me? Or—or better yet, what’s your  _ boyfriend _ gonna do?  _ Math _ me to death?” He laughed, a scary, maniacal laugh that sent a chill down Anya’s spine.

“Steve, let me go. Let me go now, and I won’t tell anyone what happened. I’ll just say I got lost looking for the restrooms. Please, for your own sake, do the right thing.”

“No, Anya, it’s not that simple. You see, I just can’t bear the thought of you belonging to that old man. You’re supposed to be mine. And by God, I’m going to get what belongs to me tonight.”

He started walking towards her, and she took a couple of steps back. Thinking quickly, she side-stepped him and made a mad dash for the door.

He put the knife handle between his teeth and lunged for her, colliding with her. She screamed as she fell to the ground.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he growled, pinning her down with one hand around her throat, the other holding his knife. He grinned down at her, sickeningly pleased with what he was doing.

“Please...let...me go…” she choked out, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. “Please…”

“Aww, don’t cry, dearest. If you just tell me you love me, I won’t have to hurt you.” His grip on her throat loosened. He wanted to hear her speak.

She had a choice to make. Tell him what he wanted to hear, or call his bluff and see if he’d really do it. If he’d really hurt her.

“I’m not a liar.”

“Then tell me the truth, Anya.”

She took a deep breath. “I don’t love you!” She shouted, choosing to tempt fate.

The next thing out of her mouth was an ear-splitting screech as the knife blade sunk into her side.

“Bad call,” he growled.

Inside, Siebren heard the scream and stopped, his blood running cold. “Anya!” He called out, desperately looking for the source of the sound. He knew he didn’t have much time.

“Did you hear that?” Moira asked, frowning.

“The whole damn building did!” His patience was wearing thin.

That’s when he noticed a door ajar. He dashed towards it, flinging it open to reveal the stairs to the roof. “This way!”

Steve slid the knife back out of her, prompting another scream out of her. “Now, Anya, have you learned your lesson? This is what happens when you tell me no. You get hurt,” he said, quite calmly. He stared at the knife blade, covered in her blood. “Beautiful, isn’t it? Little drops of Anya…”

“You’re sick,” she hissed, shaking. The pain was unreal. Tears spilled out of her eyes and down the sides of her face, drawing cloudy black lines of running eyeliner.

The sound of footsteps drew the attention of both of them, heads turning towards the source.

_ “Anya!” _ Siebren bellowed. The sight was almost too much for him, especially when he noticed the growing red stain beneath Anya.

“Oh, my God…” Moira said, holding a hand to her mouth. “And I don’t have  _ any _ of my equipment with me. Of course.”

“Well, what do we have here?” Steve said, standing up, taking a couple of steps towards the pair. “Doctor Siebren de Kuiper! Of course it is! And you’ve brought someone very important with you,” he said, launching into a supervillain-esque speech. “Well, unfortunately, you’re too late! I—”

He was cut off as he began to float. “Hey, what...what’s happening? Get—get me down!”

Too incensed to speak, Siebren reversed gravity rapidly, sending Steve to slam into the ground with a sickening thud.

Moira rushed forwards, to Anya’s side, and knelt down. She quickly assessed the wound before pressing down on Anya’s side with both hands, applying pressure. Anya cried out in pain. “I know, but I have to.”

“I’m going to get security,” Siebren said quickly, floating into the air and using gravity to propel him forward.

Moira gave him no response. “Anya, can you talk?”

“It hurts…!” She whined, putting an arm over her eyes.

“I know. Help will be here soon,” she replied, trying to reassure the poor thing.

Unbeknownst to them both, the man on the floor had regained consciousness. Weak, yet still determined, he stood up, swaying from side to side a bit. He gripped his knife and held it up, walking towards Moira and Anya. “You’re in my way!”

Moira’s eyes widened and her head snapped towards him. She pulled herself away from Anya and stood up, scowling. “And you’re in mine.”

He rushed to close the gap between them, but in his weakened state, it was easy for Moira to dodge out of the way; she stuck one leg out and swept it to the side, kicking his legs out from under him. On the floor again, he tried to sit up, but Moira stepped on his wrist, pinning his knife hand to the ground. “I don’t think so.” She ground her heel into his wrist, and he let out a cry of pain. “Good. Now, stay down.”

He struggled for a minute before giving up. He was done. His plan was ruined. “All I wanted—”

“Oh,  _ do _ shut up,” Moira spat.

She held him there until footsteps came up the stairs once more. Police and paramedics alike stormed the roof to clean up the scene. Anya was placed onto a stretcher and carried away, while Steve was pulled up off the ground and placed in handcuffs.

Siebren watched as Anya was loaded into the ambulance, feeling a particularly painful heaviness in his heart. A paramedic approached him, and he felt a jolt of fear.

“Are you Siebren? She’s requesting your presence.”

He froze for a moment, but gave a nod. “Understood. Thank you.”

As he climbed into the back of the ambulance, her tear-filled eyes widened. “Siebren, I—”

He rushed forward and grabbed hold of her hand. “Shhh, don’t speak. Just relax. I’m here. You’re going to be okay.”

Relax? How could she relax, she thought, when she was in the back of an ambulance? Nevertheless, she took a big, shuddering breath - which proved to be a mistake, as it sent a shooting pain through her side. “Owww…” She whined, fresh tears falling down her cheeks. She desperately wanted everything to stop, for this to all be a terrible nightmare.

Siebren took out his handkerchief and brought it up to her face, using it to gently clean away the tears and the eyeliner trails that they left. He wanted to do something, to make everything better again, but he was powerless. All he could do was hold her hand and dry her tears, and it felt awful.

Upon arrival at the hospital, Anya was whisked away into surgery and Siebren was left alone in the waiting area. He sat down in the nearest empty chair, undid his bow tie and unbuttoned the first button of his shirt, and rested his head in his hands. His thoughts raced; at the forefront of his mind was Anya, of course, but behind that he couldn’t stop wondering if he could have stopped this somehow. If he could have kept her safe.

It seemed like forever before a harried-looking nurse finally came up to him. “Siebren? Anya is awake and is, uh, demanding to see you.”

He nodded once and stood up, following the nurse to Anya’s bed. Her beautiful ball gown was gone, replaced with a hospital gown; she was hooked up to machines, monitoring her vitals and delivering what he assumed to be painkillers; tears streamed down her face once more, and she looked up at him like a scared child. He pulled a chair over to her bedside and sat down, taking hold of her hand.

“Anya…”

“I’m so sorry…” she choked out, sobbing. “It’s all my fault, I ruined everything, I—”

“Oh, mijn beste, you have done  _ nothing _ wrong.” He reached out and put a hand on her cheek, rubbing with his thumb. “Nothing is your fault. The person at fault is the person who did this to you. Do you know who it was?”

She laughed; she couldn’t help it. She’d forgotten he’d never seen him before. “It was Steve.”

Siebren’s eyes went wide and his mouth hung open slightly, putting the pieces together. “Oh, Anya…”

“I should have just given him what he wanted. I wouldn’t be here right now if—”

“No! You wouldn’t be here right now if he didn’t decide to  _ torture you. _ I must impress upon you that this is  _ his fault. _ You have done nothing wrong. Do you understand me?”

She looked at him through the tears in her eyes and saw that he was serious. She wiped at her eyes with her free hand. “I’m scared.”

“It’s going to be alright, mijn lieverd.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “This time, I will protect you.”


	10. Chapter 10

Anya stared out the passenger side window, listlessly watching the world go by. Everything seemed to be a shade of gray darker than usual.

Worried, Siebren spoke up. “We’re almost there.”

Her answer was short and simple. “Mmhm.”

He wanted to ask her if she was alright, but chose not to; it would be a silly question. Of course she wasn’t alright, she was recovering - in both body and mind - from the events of two evenings prior.

They were en route to his house; he had convinced her to stay with him while she recovered. They’d returned to her apartment just long enough for her to pack a couple of bags, and left before the media could make an appearance. At his house, he could keep her safe. Protect her.

The car stopped and Anya’s mind was jolted back to reality. She moved to open the door, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. “I’ll get it for you, schatje. Don’t move.”

She sighed, but let go of the door handle anyway, waiting only somewhat patiently. She wanted to lie down, take her painkillers, and cry.

He opened her door, and she went to stand up, but hands stopped her. “You think I’m going to make you climb all these steps in your condition? No, mijn kleine, I’m carrying you upstairs.”

“I-I mean, I can walk, Siebren, I just—”

“Your orders from the doctor were to rest as much as possible these two weeks so you don’t end up with a scar. I...I  _ can’t _ …” He couldn’t finish that sentence. “Please, just let me do this for you.”

Her expression softened. He looked so worried, and he clearly felt strongly about this. “Oh, alright…”

He gave a soft smile and slid his arms beneath her, one behind her back, the other under her knees. “Hold on tight.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her out of the car, carrying her inside and up the stairs to the guest bedroom. He carefully lay her down on the bed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be right back with your bags. Will you be alright?”

“I want my painkillers, it hurts…” She whined. Only afterwards did she realize she sounded like a child. She looked at him apologetically, but he only gave a nod.

“I know. I’ll be right up with them, I promise.” He turned and left the room, moving quickly - she needed her meds.

Left alone, she sighed and stared up at the ceiling. That disastrous night just kept replaying itself in her mind. Tears began to spill, and she reached up to wipe her eyes. Her side gave a throb, and she let out a whine in pain.

Siebren returned, Anya’s bags floating behind him. He lowered them to the ground carefully before fishing through one of them. “Alright, here’s your painkillers and your water bottle. I—” He cut himself off, finally turning to face her. He rushed to her side, dropped what he was holding on the bedside table, and placed a hand on her cheek, gently turning her head to face him. “Oh, schatje…”

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked out. “I should have just said what he wanted to hear…”

“Listen to me,” he started, kneeling down next to her, “Anya, you did what you thought was right. You stood up for yourself and refused to bend to the will of some deranged madman. I’m proud of you, sweetheart. Your wound will heal, it is only temporary. Until then, I’m going to take care of you the best I can. Cry all you need to, mijn beste, but don’t ever say it was your fault.”

She closed her eyes and gave a couple of hiccupping sobs. She couldn’t argue with him, she didn’t have the energy and...he was right. No matter how much she wanted to fight it, he was right. Though it did little to make her feel any better about having been stabbed. That was the most upsetting part to her.

“Do you still want to take your painkillers?”

She opened her eyes and nodded. She swore she could feel her intestines throbbing, which was alarming to her, to say the least.

He took his hand away from her face and opened the pill bottle, carefully shaking one pill out into his hand. “Sit up, dear,” he said, picking up her water bottle and holding both things out to her. “Carefully, though.”

Slowly, she sat up, a grimace blooming across her face. Movement in the waist area was not exactly comfortable. She gratefully took the offered items, popping the pill into her mouth and swallowing it with some water. “Thank you,” she said with a sniffle.

“You’re very welcome, mijn kleine,” he said, rubbing the top of her head. “If you don’t mind...I’m going to go downstairs for a while. Is there anything else you need?”

“Um…well…” She started shyly, looking at him with pleading eyes. “Could you please get me my laptop and charger out of my backpack?”

He smiled softly. “Of course, dear.” He turned and went through the bag, retrieving the items in question and handing her the laptop before bending down to plug in the charger for her. “Anything else?” He asked, handing her the end of the charger.

She thought for a moment. “Just a kiss.”

He chuckled and placed a hand on her cheek. “I was going to give you one anyway, liefste.” He leaned in close and pressed his lips to hers, lingering there for a moment or two. He could never get enough of kissing those perfect lips.

But of course, all things must come to an end, and he pulled away, smiling at her as if she were the most precious thing on the planet. In a way, to him, she was. “Alright, I’ll leave you be for now. I’ll leave the door open so you can call for me if you need me, okay?”

She gave a nod and opened up her laptop. “Okay.”

It took all of his resolve to tear himself away from her, leaving the room and heading down the stairs to watch some TV. Part of him wanted to stay with her, to make sure she was alright, but he could hardly spend every waking moment with her; he just had to be content in the knowledge that she was here with him, that she was safe and sound up in his guest bedroom.

But he couldn’t keep himself from her for too long. A couple of hours later, he knocked on the open door to announce his presence and walked in, a tray table floating behind him. “Anya, dear, it’s time to eat.”

“Huh?” She looked at the clock on her computer. “But, it’s only—”

“I know, but remember what the doctor said? You need to eat smaller meals more often while your…” He paused, unable to say it. “...while you heal inside.”

“Oh...yeah,” she said, setting her laptop aside.

The tray table floated over to her and settled itself over her lap. She looked at it, curious to see what he’d made her. It was a simple meal; two pieces of white toast with a thin spread of peanut butter on top, a cup of yogurt, and a glass of milk. “Thanks, dear,” she said before beginning to eat.

He sat down on the edge of the bed. “Remember to eat slowly. Also, after you eat, it’ll be time to wash your stitches.”

She grimaced; she really wasn’t looking forward to that. “I don’t wanna…”

“I’ll do it.”

She almost choked on a bite of toast. “What?”

“I’ll wash them for you,” he said plainly.

“N-No, it’s okay, I can do it! I wouldn’t want to...impose too much...I mean, I’m already hiding at your house, I’m sure you don’t need me to  _ bother  _ you—”

“It’s no bother at all, mijn kleine. I want to do this for you.”

She began to panic, envisioning him lifting her shirt. “No, please, it’s fine! I can do it, I promise, I’ll—”

“Anya, what is your problem? I’ll be gentle, of course. I wouldn’t want to hurt you. You’ve been hurt enough, and I’m not going to make you take care of yourself.”

“What is my…?” She scowled at him, and he looked surprised to see her so angry. “You wanna know what my problem is?” She asked, voice getting louder, her hands balling into fists.

“Yes, I do.” He did feel bad he was upsetting her, but he couldn’t settle for making her wash her own stitches. He wanted to care for her in every way he could.

“I don’t want you looking at my goddamn stomach!” She barked, leaning forward.

He blinked a couple of times. Of all of the reasons he’d expected, that wasn’t one of them. “Why not?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Siebren,” she started harshly, “but I’m  _ fat. _ I have stretch marks and rolls, and...ugh, it’s terrible and embarrassing and I don’t want you seeing it! You deserve...you deserve way better than this.” Tears started building up in her eyes, and she looked away.

His heart broke cleanly in two at her words. He’d guessed that she wasn’t comfortable with her body, but he’d never anticipated it being this bad. “Schatje…” he began softly, “I  _ have _ noticed, yes. But I chose you because you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on. I knew from the moment I first saw you that I wanted you in my life. I don’t care what size you wear, you’re  _ important _ to me regardless.”

She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. “But…”

“No buts, liefste. You’re beautiful, and that’s final,” he said, with the slightest hint of a smile on his face. “Now, eat. After you finish, I’ll take you into the bathroom and wash your stitches for you. Alright?”

She grumbled. “But my  _ stomach… _ ”

“Anya, I’m not going to make you take care of yourself. Not while I’m around. You’ve been through more than enough these past couple of days, and I want you to relax. I can’t even imagine how upset you must be, and I’m not going to make you do anything that reminds you of it.”

Sighing, she closed her eyes - he wasn’t going to let it go. She was defeated. “Okay,” she said softly, opening her eyes again and focusing her attention on her yogurt.

After she’d finished and set aside the tray table, he smiled and stood up. “Come on now.”

Carefully, she stood up and followed him across the hall to the guest bathroom.

“Sit down on the tub,” he directed her, stepping aside to let her through.

Trembling, she sat down on the edge of the bathtub and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She decided to try one more time to dissuade him. “Really, it’ll be okay if you just let me do it—”

“Nonsense,” he said, pulling a bag of cotton balls out of the cabinet. “You’re under my care, so I will do it.”

She watched as he prepared a couple of cotton balls - one with a small amount of water, one with antibacterial soap. Carrying them in one hand, he turned and closed the distance between them before kneeling next to her.

He reached for the hem of her shirt with his free hand, and her eyes squeezed shut tightly, her face scrunching up in fear and disgust.

“Remember what I told you, mijn schat,” he said sweetly, hooking one finger beneath her shirt and lifting it to expose a neat row of seven stitches.

She let out a pathetic-sounding squeak in protest as the cool air hit the skin of her stomach. Her head turned away, even though her eyes were closed.

He started by gently rubbing the wound with the wet cotton ball, then with the soapy one. To finish, he wiped off the soap with the wet cotton ball, before throwing them out and leaning forward to press a kiss to her cheek. “All done. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

As he lowered her shirt back down, her face slowly returned to normal and her head turned back to face him, a shy look on her face. Truthfully, it  _ wasn’t  _ that bad; he hadn’t made any remarks about her body like she had, for some reason, expected. But she couldn’t admit it. She settled for looking at him like she was about to cry.

“Come now, liefste, you’ve been very brave. Why don’t you come downstairs with me and watch some TV? I’ll carry you down, and we can cuddle. Does that sound good to you?”

She nodded a couple of times, and then she was in his arms. He carried her out of the room, down the hall, and down the stairs, into the living room. He set her down on the couch, then sat down himself and pulled her in close, careful not to disturb her stitches.

She sighed softly and leaned in, resting her head on his shoulder. She could get used to this kind of treatment, she thought.


	11. Chapter 11

It had been a little over a week, and Anya was starting to suffer. Not because of her wound - in fact, she’d been taking her painkillers less and less often. No, it was the absolute  _ boredom _ that was suffocating her. Her world had shrunk to the size of Siebren’s house - no, even smaller than that: the guest bedroom and the living room. Laying in bed all day playing on her laptop was fun for the first couple of days, but it quickly grew old. She found herself yearning for a change of pace. So she pulled on her coat and went downstairs.

Siebren was on the couch as she passed by. He raised an eyebrow at her. “What are you doing, schatje?”

“Going for a walk,” she said, turning to face him. “I’ll be—”

“What? No, you’re not,” he replied, alarmed.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “The hell you mean, no I’m not? Yes, I am. I need to stretch my legs, and I’m  _ bored, _ Siebren. I need a change of scenery for a little while.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” he said, standing up and walking towards her. “Take off the coat and sit down with me, okay?” He went to unzip her coat, and she took a step backwards, avoiding his hands.

“No! I want to go out! I want to leave the house, Siebren, I’ve been stuck in here for  _ days _ now!” She stomped her foot for added effect. 

“You’re acting like a child. Come now, take off your coat and sit down with me.”

“What, are you holding me hostage or something?” She scoffed, crossing her arms.

“No, I’m keeping you  _ safe. _ What happens if you’re out there all alone and a reporter finds you? What happens if you fall down and rip your stitches? It’s too dangerous, Anya. You need to stay inside.”

She rolled her eyes. “Siebren, those are two of the  _ dumbest _ things I’ve ever heard!” She exclaimed, not caring if that hurt him. She was well past that point. “Now, I’m going for a walk, and I won’t hear—”

She was cut off as she began to float. “H-Hey...what are you doing? Put me down!” She kicked her legs rapidly, trying to make contact with the floor again, but it was no use.

“You are not going  _ anywhere!  _ You...you don’t understand,” he said. He’d started strong, almost at a yell, but by the end he just sounded sad. “You got hurt badly while I was supposed to be taking care of you. They said it was a miracle they didn’t have to remove any of your  _ intestines. _ I wasn’t able to protect you, but never again. Never again will I—”

“You’re not my  _ dad! _ Put me down, Siebren!”

“Heaven’s sake, Anya, you could have  _ died _ and I never would have gotten to tell you that I love you!”

At his outburst, her struggling ceased and she lay still, floating in midair. “W-What did you say?”

“I said I  _ love you, _ Anya,” he said, beginning to tremble. “I love you so ardently, so dearly, so...so  _ much. _ And I almost lost you before I ever had the chance to say it.” He carefully lowered her back down to the ground before practically falling to his knees. He put his hands over his face, and his trembling grew stronger. “I almost lost you,” he repeated, his voice a shaky half-whisper.

Back on solid ground, Anya felt her heart break at his words. He was right - she could have easily been killed. She’d never stopped to think about how it affected him. “Siebren…” She took a couple of steps forward, closing the gap between them. She knelt down next to him, listening to his breathing - it was ragged, like he was trying not to sob. She felt tears of her own begin to bloom in her eyes, and she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him. When she spoke, it was gentle and soft. “I love you too.”

He looked up from his hands, tears leaving trails down his cheeks, and turned his head towards her. He gave a soft, shuddering exhale before embracing her, holding her as tightly to him as he dared, what with her stitches and all. “I’m sorry,” he said with a sniffle, “I’ve tried so hard to be strong for you, but—”

She cut him off with a long shush sound. “It’s alright. I’m okay, I’m here.” She reached up and began to slowly stroke the top of his head. “I’m right here, and everything’s going to be okay.”

“ _ I _ should be the one comforting  _ you,” _ he lamented. “You’re the one who was injured. Not me.”

“Maybe so, but right now, you need comfort more than I do.”

A weary smile inched across his face. “I...I suppose you’re right,” he conceded, pressing his forehead to hers.

For a little while, they stayed just like that - until Siebren spoke up again. “Perhaps we should get up off the floor,” he suggested.

Now that he mentioned it, her knees were in fact starting to ache. “Mm, yeah, good idea…”

She stood up carefully and he followed suit. She frowned and looked down. “Guess I’ll...take this off, then,” she said, reaching for the zipper on her coat.

“No...wait.” He bit his lip for a moment. “I have an idea. Why...don’t I come with you? On your walk.”

She looked up at him. “Really?”

He smiled and gave a nod. “Yes, schatje. Just give me a moment to put on my coat.”

Coats and shoes on, he opened the door for her, letting her step out before pulling out his keys and locking the door behind him. He took her hand in his, their fingers interlacing, and they set off.

The rest of the week passed without incident, and it was finally the day Anya was to return to the hospital to get her stitches out. She was looking forward to sleeping in her own bed again, and couldn’t hide the excitement she felt to finally be able to go back to work. Being stuck in the house for two weeks was more miserable than she’d anticipated, even with the walks they had started taking.

Pulling on her coat, she turned to Siebren. “Could you be a dear and get my bags from upstairs, please?”

He hesitated. “Anya…”

“What?”

There was a beat of silence as he tried to figure out how to phrase his thoughts. Finally, he just decided to get straight to the point. “Move in with me.”

She did a double take.  _ “What?” _

“I said, I want you to move in with me,” he repeated calmly, as if she truly hadn’t heard him.

Her mouth hung open for a moment as she searched for the correct words to reply with. “Siebren, we’ve been dating for three weeks!”

“Yes, and you’ve lived with me for two of them,” he pointed out. “I have become far, far too accustomed to your presence to let you go without asking. You are the light of my life, mijn schat. I want you to be the first thing I see upon awakening and the last thing I see before I fall asleep.”

He quickly closed the distance between them and stood in front of her, placing two fingers beneath her chin and gently lifting it. “Anya. I’m serious when I say these things. I want you to live here with me. I want to make this house a home with you. What do you say?”

Her mouth hung open as she tried to think of something to say. “Siebren, I…” She paused. “Are you really sure? It’s so soon, I just...I don’t want to do something I’m going to regret, you know? N-Not that I think I would! I just…” She gave a sigh and closed her eyes.

“It’s alright, mijn kleine. I understand. It may be a little bit soon, but I just can’t allow things to return to normal without trying. I love you and I want you here with me.”

She bit her lip and looked into his eyes. Was she ready to make this jump? She  _ had _ been living with him for the past two weeks, but was she ready to make it permanent? She thought about sleeping by his side, about cooking dinner with him, about driving to work together, about everything they could do together if she just said yes. “Siebren…”

He took his hand back and gave a nod, a solemn smile on his face. “It’s alright, Anya. I’ll get your things.” He turned away and headed for the stairs.

“No! Wait,” she called out, reaching out towards him. “Don’t. I...I want to stay.”

He turned back towards her, one hand still on the railing. He looked surprised, his eyes wide. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel like you  _ have  _ to say yes, mijn schat. Are you sure you want this?”

Her hands tightened into fists which came up to her chest. “Yes! Yes, Siebren, I want to stay! I want…” She lowered her hands, clasping them in front of her. “I want to stay here with you.”

A smile slowly made its way across his face as he realized what this meant. “Anya…” He took a step forward, then another, then rushed towards her and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her into the air effortlessly and spinning her around, joyfully laughing.

“Whoa!” She cried out in surprise at being lifted, but soon she was laughing as well. “Alright, alright, put me down! We’re gonna be late!”

He put her down, but put his hands on her cheeks, bent down, and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Come on, then. We have an appointment to get you to, and after that we can pack more of your things. Does that sound good to you, mijn schat?”

She nodded, smiling wide. “Yeah. That sounds great.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explicit chapter!

With a sigh, Anya collapsed onto her side of the bed, arms out to her sides. Her stitches were finally out, she’d been given the all clear to eat normally again, and she’d moved more of her clothes from her apartment to Siebren’s house - now hers as well.

Siebren leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, a smile on his face. “Comfortable?”

“Mmhm,” she replied, closing her eyes, a smile of her own blossoming.

“Good, I’m glad. You’ll be sleeping there, after all, and I’d hate for you to sleep uncomfortably.” He moved away from the doorframe to sit on his side of the bed. He reached over and gently brushed some hair out of her face. “Oh, mijn schat…” he started, “you are so beautiful…”

She opened one eye and looked up at him. “You’ve seen my belly and you can still say that?”

“Oh, hush now,” he said, giving her a light playful swat to the upper arm. “You’re a beautiful girl, and nothing is going to change my mind.”

Before she could retort, he leaned down and kissed her, ensuring any protests would die on her tongue. When he pulled away, he laid himself down next to her and placed a hand on her cheek. “Nothing is going to change my mind,” he repeated in a whisper.

She opened her eyes and turned onto her side to face him, giving him a smile. His fingers traced her jawline, then down her neck, over her shoulder and down her side. His hand landed on her hip, and he slipped his other arm beneath her, pulling her in close and capturing her lips in another kiss. This time, though, he slowly deepened it instead of pulling away. She let slip a moan or two, and it only served to encourage him. The hand on her hip started to play with the waistline of her jeans, and she let out a short, sharp gasp.

He broke off the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “If you say the word, I will stop.”

She could feel her face growing hot. “Okay.”

He gave a smirk before resuming the kiss, and she reached up, putting her hand on his shoulder. His tongue darted out and prodded her lips, prompting her to open her mouth, their tongues meeting for the first time.

The hand on her hip traveled back up her side, lingering over her waist for a moment before going up to her chest. Softly, he brushed his hand over her breast, to gauge her reaction - she let out a little whine, but had no great reaction beyond that. Encouraged, he gently took hold of it and rubbed it in slow circles. She whimpered in response - she wanted  _ more. _

He was beginning to get impatient, and his hand slid down her chest and over her stomach to rest on the waistline of her jeans. With one hand, he unbuttoned them. “I think it’s time we got these out of the way.”

He rolled her over onto her back. “Hey—!” She cried out in surprise, her eyes wide. He sat up and quickly rid himself of his shirt, pulling it off and tossing it behind him, not caring where it landed. His attention returned to Anya, unzipping her jeans and pulling them down. She lifted her hips to help them slide down - she wanted them gone just as badly.

Next, as he straddled her on his knees, he grasped the hemline of her shirt and pulled up. She raised her arms, and he pulled the shirt off of her, tossing it to one side. He bent down and kissed her again, his hands sliding beneath her to unhook her bra. Once it was out of the way, he couldn’t help but stare for a moment - she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever laid eyes on.

“Wh-What are you looking at?” She asked, her nerves getting the better of her.

“You,” he responded simply, smiling at her before bending down and pressing a kiss to her breast. “Your beauty is so radiant, so—”

“Oh, it is  _ not.” _ She rolled her eyes.

“Do you want to see what you do to me?” He asked, looking her in the eyes, his voice a low rumble.

She realized immediately what he meant. She nodded timidly - she wanted to see.

Without a word, he got up off the bed and calmly undid his pants, pushing them down along with his underwear. Now fully naked, he got back onto the bed, once again straddling her. It was her turn to stare, now - his big, hard cock was pointed directly at her, and her mouth opened just a little bit. “See? I wouldn’t get like this for just anyone. But you, mijn lieverd,  _ you _ are so—” He paused as he noticed her mouth hanging open. “Would you like a taste? Hmm?”

She looked up at him, face practically glowing pink, and nodded.

He crawled closer to her, the tip of his dick practically touching her lips. “Go ahead then.”

She tilted her head up off the pillow and gave it an experimental lick, and he bit his lip and let out a short, low moan, his face becoming tinged with pink. Encouraged, she swirled her tongue around the head before taking it into her mouth. She inched forward, slowly taking more and more of him. He placed a hand on top of her head, stroking her hair. “Yes, that’s it…”

She took as much of him as she could, a little less than half - he was  _ big,  _ and she looked up at him apologetically, sorry that she couldn’t take more. Her gaze sent a shock through him and he felt himself twitch in her mouth. “You look so  _ good _ like this,” he purred. “You’re doing great, keep it up.”

She started to bob her head, not breaking eye contact with him. He closed his eyes, holding his free hand to his mouth. It felt  _ wonderful, _ her plush lips and soft tongue were working him just perfectly.

Too perfectly, maybe. “A-Alright, stop, that’s enough…” He said, somewhat reluctantly.

She came off of him immediately. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course. I want to...save some for the main event, as it were. Speaking of which...” He backed up until he was over her thighs. “These need to come out of the way, don’t they?” He asked, playing with the waistband of her panties.

Suddenly, her mouth felt dry, even though she wasn’t entirely certain why. “Yeah…”

“You look nervous. Are you sure you want this?”

“Yes. Yes!” She sat bolt upright. “I just…” She crossed her arms with a huff, her face red. “I always get nervous the first time.”

He smiled at her and guided her to lay back down. “Just relax, mijn kleine. I’ll take good care of you, I promise,” he said, brushing her hair out of her face.

Before she could respond, he was back to playing with the waistband of her panties. “Now then, let’s get these out of the way.” He hooked his fingers beneath the elastic and pulled down. She brought her legs up to help them slide down, and he dropped them over the side of the bed. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Biting down on a knuckle, she shook her head.

“Alright, then, let me see…” Floating up out of the way for a moment, he put his hands on her thighs and gently pushed them apart, her legs spreading to reveal her slit. “Oh, how beautiful…” he remarked, settling himself back down on the bed, between her legs.

His words made her hands fly up to cover her bright pink face, and she whined into her palms.

He reached up with one hand, took hold of both her wrists, and pulled her hands away from her face. “Don’t hide from me,” he said sweetly, voice low. “I want to see you enjoying yourself.”

She whimpered and tried to take her hands back, but to no avail. His grip was too strong. “Siebren, give me my hands back!” She whined, struggling against his grip.

He smirked up at her. “Only if you promise not to cover your beautiful face.”

“I-I’ll try not to…please, Siebren...”

He gave a sigh. “Oh, alright,” he said, letting go of her hands. He watched carefully to ensure they didn’t go back upwards; they went to her sides instead, gripping the bedsheets. Satisfied, he returned his attention between her legs. With finger and thumb, he spread her outer lips apart and bent down low, admiring her for a moment. “If you don’t mind...it’s my turn for a taste.”

She nodded with somewhat jerky motions, and he gave her clit a slow lick. She gasped and let out a whine; he looked up at her and smiled to himself,  _ God she was beautiful. _ He started to drag his tongue up and down her clit, listening to her mewl in pleasure, feeling absolutely blessed to be bringing pleasure to this angel. Placing his hands on her hips to hold her down, he wrapped his lips around the little nub and sucked. He could feel her try to buck her hips in response, along with hearing her cry out.

He took one of his hands off her hips and slowly, carefully, slid one finger into her opening. He pulled it out and pushed it back in a few times before adding a second finger; he started to spread and scissor them, stretching her out and opening her up. He found the spongy area indicating her g-spot and curled his fingers against it, drawing from her a high-pitched, warbling whine.

She gripped the sheets tighter, not wanting him to stop what he was doing to her in order to remove her hands from her face again. The last thing she wanted was for him to stop, especially when she felt like she was getting close. “Siebren, I’m—I’m gonna…”

“You’re gonna  _ what, _ dear?” He asked, looking up at her innocently. He wanted to hear her say it.

“Gonna  _ cum, _ please don’t stop!”

“Then cum for me, schatje.” He put his mouth back over her clit and started to lick as fast as he could, his fingers rubbing her g-spot relentlessly.

She started to tremble as she got closer and closer to the edge. Then, finally, she tumbled over it with a shout, her body shaking - almost thrashing - uncontrollably as she rode it out. He could feel her tightening around his fingers, and he longed to know what that would feel like on his cock.

“Hnn...stop, stop…” she groaned, “too much…” She lifted a shaky hand and gently pushed at his head in an effort to get him off her overly-sensitive clit.

He came away from her clit and withdrew his fingers from inside her. He looked at his hand, practically dripping with her slick, and brought it to his mouth, sucking his fingers clean. He closed his eyes and gave a short, low moan - she tasted  _ heavenly. _

“Well, mijn kleine,” he started, returning his hands to her hips, “how do you feel?”

She looked up at him, panting and red-faced. “Never better.”

“Good,” he said, lifting one of her legs and resting it against his shoulder. “Are you ready for the main event?” He picked up her other leg, resting it against his other shoulder. “I know I am.”

“Uh-huh.” Even though she’d just cum once, she wanted more. She was desperate to feel his long, thick cock inside her. “Fuck me,  _ please…” _

Smiling wickedly, he slid his hands beneath her ass and lifted, lining up her hips with his. “Oh, it would be an  _ honor.” _

He pressed his tip against her opening before beginning to gently push himself in. His eyes were on her face, watching for her reaction - and she didn’t disappoint. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth opened as he slid inside. Even with the prep work he’d done with his fingers, she still needed to adjust to him; she could feel the slight but wonderful burn of her walls stretching to accommodate him.

“Nn...fuck, that’s so good…” He muttered as he hilted. “So tight and hot...absolutely perfect…”

She wanted to say something along the lines of  _ stop, that’s embarrassing, _ but all that came out was “ahaaa…!”

Slowly, he began to pull out, getting about halfway before sliding back into her, a little bit faster this time. He began to work up a rhythm, increasing in speed and force until he was snapping his hips into her relentlessly. He bent over, practically folding her in half as he continued to fuck her deeply. He took one of her nipples into his mouth, suckling on it, pulling on it every so often. One of her hands came up and wove itself into his hair.

He was hitting the deepest part of her, and she was crying out nearly incessantly as he slammed into it over and over again.  _ “Siebren! _ I’m...ahaa...getting close!”

He was thrilled to hear her call out his name. “Oh, yes…” He could feel himself getting close too, but he wanted to feel her cum first. “Cum on my cock, baby girl…” He encouraged her, reaching down with one hand and rubbing her clit.

It was too much for her, and within seconds she was done, writhing beneath him, crying out her pleasure. He felt her pussy fluttering around his cock, and with a loud moan, he stopped, buried deep within her as he pumped her full of his thick, hot cum.

After a few moments, spent and breathing heavily, he slowly pulled out of her, cum leaking out of her and onto the sheets. He carefully lowered her hips down onto the bed. “Here...let me clean you up,” he said, getting up off the bed and heading into the adjoining bathroom.

“Okay…” she called after him in almost a sing-song voice, enjoying the afterglow.

He returned with a damp washcloth, humming to himself as he sat down and used it to clean up the cum leaking out of her. “There. How do you feel?” He asked, using the corner of the washcloth to wipe off the sheets.

“Just wonderful,” she replied, still slightly out of breath, looking up at him with a dreamy smile.

With a smile of his own, he floated himself over her legs and onto his side of the bed. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close and holding her tight.

“How about you?” She asked quietly, looking into his eyes. “Do you feel good?”

“I have not felt this good in a long, long time, mijn lieverd,” he replied softly, his eyes sparkling. He honestly could have cried - how long had it been since he’d been this close to someone? Since someone had loved him? He quickly decided it didn’t matter - he had Anya now, and he wasn’t planning on letting her go.


	13. Chapter 13

At her desk, Anya was quietly thrilled to be back at work. She was out of the house and being productive, and that felt  _ good. _

An unknown voice floated in from the door. “Ah, Miss Anderson?”

Anya looked up to see a woman standing before her. “Yes?”

She smiled at Anya. “Your presence is requested on the tenth floor. I am to guide you to the meeting.”

“Oh...uh, alright,” Anya replied, saving her work and standing up to follow.

The strange woman was incredibly quiet as she led Anya to the elevator. She didn’t ask any questions, she didn’t comment on the weather, and she especially didn’t say anything about the stabbing, which Anya was incredibly glad for. But, as a consequence, the trip to the tenth floor was deathly quiet, save for the sound of the elevator.

The woman led Anya to the back of the building and into a large conference room, which held far fewer people in it than its capacity. “I have returned with Miss Anderson,” the woman announced, stepping aside to reveal Anya.

“Thank you, Sana. You are dismissed,” said the man at the head of the table.

The strange woman - Sana - turned and left the room, leaving Anya to stand there.

She recognized the man at the head of the table - she’d spoken to him at the ball. The CEO.

“Anya, I am pleased that you could make it,” the man who’d said his name was James spoke up. “Please, have a seat. Anywhere is fine,” he continued, gesturing towards the bank of empty seats.

“Ah...thank you,” she replied, choosing a seat close to the others in the room.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why we’ve called you here. Well, I’d like to begin with an apology. We failed you, Anya. From the bottom of my heart, I am so, so sorry about what happened at the ball.”

She bit back a sigh, choosing instead to smile up at him. “Thank you, sir, that...that means a lot to me.” It really didn’t, but she figured some nice words wouldn’t hurt.

“I’m sure you’re already aware, but during your recovery period, we chose to terminate Steven Miller’s employment with Lucentra. It is imperative to us that each and every employee here feels safe and secure. How has your first day back gone?”

“Uh...fine, so far, I guess. It’s only, what, a little after 11? But so far everything’s been normal, except for...this.”

“Good, that’s good,” he replied with a smile. “Now, I have an offer for you. Please, hear me out completely before you make your decision, okay?” He paused, waiting for her to answer.

“Oh, uh. Okay, yeah.”

He let another pause ring out for a moment before starting. “Anya, not only do we have a lot to make up to you, but we’ve noticed your passion, your dedication, and your sheer skill while you’ve been working with us. Your supervisor—” It was then that Anya noticed her supervisor sitting close to the head of the table. “—has filled us in on all the details. You’re a star worker, Anya. There’s an open office on the fifth floor - a corner office. It’s really quite lovely. Worlds away from the interior, shared office you have now. And it has your name on it, if you agree to our terms.”

“Which are?”

“Well, you’ll be starting work on a...new project. We haven’t got  _ all _ the details on it yet, but suffice it to say, I think it’ll be a good fit for you. Something to challenge you, but something that will benefit the whole company. Maybe even the world, if the project gets far enough! How does that sound to you?”

Anya thought for a moment. “What about Darkreign?”

James waved his hand a couple of times. “Small beans compared to this. We’ll find others to work on it, don’t you worry.”

“Okay, but...what  _ is _ this new project?”

“We want you to code an intrusion prevention system. Something to keep bad actors from gaining access to our systems and databases. You might not know this, Anya, but we do work on quite a few highly classified projects, and if they got out...I shudder to think what would happen.” He paused, letting that sink in for a moment. “The commercial solution we’ve been using has been alright until now, but we want to use something...home-grown. Something designed with Lucentra in mind. You would be doing very important work.”

“What about software designers? I can’t design and code a whole system by myself, and something that complex will take a whole team of—”

“Oh, don’t you worry. You’ll have a team. We just wanted to get your input on the idea first. You’re our star programmer, after all. So, what do you think?”

She paused for a moment, thinking. “This is a lot to take in...do I have to decide right now?”

He let out a warm-sounding laugh. “Of course not. Take your time, my dear. I would like your decision by close of business tomorrow, however, so please, have this at the forefront of your mind.”

“O-Of course...thank you.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure. Do you have any questions for us, while you’re here?”

She could think of exactly one thing to ask. “So, about human resources...are there going to be any improvements made in that area?”

“I’ll field that one,” a woman to James’ left spoke up. “I’m the head of human resources. I’d like to echo Mr. Roberts’ apology - we failed you in the worst way, Anya, and I want you to know that we are indeed overhauling how we handle incident reports in the future.”

Anya was relieved, and leaned back in her chair. “Good, thank you. That’s all I wanted to know.”

James gave a smile. “Wonderful. If that’s all, then, you are free to go. Just remember, I’d like to see you before the end of tomorrow.”

“Right. Thank you again, Mr. Roberts,” Anya replied, standing up. She quietly walked to the doors and let herself out.

James’ face dropped immediately, looking dark and almost angry. He picked up his phone and dialed a number. “Sana. Bring de Kuiper in here. We need to make sure this sticks.”

Back at her desk, Anya immersed herself in her work, knowing her time working with her little pet project may be coming to a close. Before long, she looked up at the clock - 12:22. Siebren was late.

Worried he might be having another episode, Anya got up and set off for his lab.

Carefully pushing the door open, she peered inside. “Hello? Siebren? You in here?” She called out.

A cursory search revealed nothing. Shutting the door behind her, she went over to his desk, where she knew he hides during his episodes.

He wasn’t there. What was there, though, were his papers, strewn across the desk as usual, in want of a filing cabinet of some sort.

Something on one of the papers grabbed her eye. A thorny-looking T logo was emblazoned on the top of it - a logo that sent a chill down Anya’s spine.

What the  _ hell _ was the Talon logo doing on Siebren’s desk?

Morbidly curious, she picked up the paper and began to read.

“Dr. de Kuiper -

We do wholeheartedly apologize for the incident at the ball. It was not part of our plan, and the offending interloper has been dealt with.

We fear that Anya’s faith in the company may have been shaken. As a result, we are making our move. We request that you urge her to take our offer—”

The doorknob began to turn and, thinking quickly, Anya folded up the letter and hastily shoved it into her shirt.

“Who is—ah, Anya, mijn beste. What brings you to my office, hm?” Siebren asked, smiling at her.

Heart pounding in her chest, she tried her best to smile back. “Oh, uh, I saw you were late and thought you might be having another episode...so I came to check on you.”

“That’s very sweet of you, my love. No, I’m fine, I was just called into an...emergency meeting.” He paused, looking at her. “What’s wrong, schatje? You seem nervous.”

“Do I? Well, you know, that happens sometimes, I just get nervous for no good reason…”

“Right...is there anything I can do to help?”

“I-I don’t think so. I’ll be okay.”

“Alright. Well, then, shall we be off for lunch?”

“C-Can you...give me a moment? I need to...adjust my bra.” She lied quickly.

“Oh, of course. Go ahead.”

“No, I mean...can you turn around? I don’t...feel like being seen.”

“Schatje, I’ve seen you naked, you’re beautiful and—”

“I-I still don’t feel like being seen right now! Please, Siebren,” she pleaded with a deep frown, trying to get him to just turn around for a moment.

“Oh, alright…” He said, giving in and turning around.

“Thank you,” she said with a sigh, pulling the paper out of her shirt. She folded it up even smaller and stuffed it into her pants pocket.

Instead of simply telling him she was ready, she tiptoed over to him, careful not to make a sound, before wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

“Oh!” He began to laugh. “I take it you’re ready to go.”

“Uh-huh.” She smiled and pressed her face into his back, taking in his scent. He always smelled so good to her.

“Well, then let go of me and we can be on our way,” he said, smiling to himself.

“Aww, okay…” She reluctantly let go, taking half a step backwards.

He turned around and quickly pressed a kiss to her lips before taking her by the hand. “Come now, let’s be off.”

Standing in line in the cafeteria, Anya’s eyes flitted about the room, from person to person. It seemed like everyone’s eyes were on her until she looked at them. It made her feel incredibly uneasy. “Siebren, I think...I think people are staring at me…” She whispered, gently pulling on his sleeve like a child.

He looked around the room for a moment - everything seemed normal to him. “It’s just your imagination. Take a deep breath and relax, mijn schat. Everything’s alright.”

She gave a groan, unconvinced, but did as she was told and took a deep breath. Relaxing, however, would be a tougher task. She tried to keep her eyes facing forward, but every so often she found herself looking around. Her paranoia was only growing. “They’re staring at me. They’re definitely staring at me.”

“Nobody is staring at you, Anya. It’s all in your head. Stay calm, we’re almost to the end of the line.”

As Anya’s heart sped up in her chest, Siebren paid for both of them, and she was too busy being paranoid to argue with him about it. They found a table in a corner, and Anya insisted on taking the wall seat, so she could keep watch.

As they began to eat, Anya noticed someone staring at her. Two someones. This time it was definite, it didn’t go away as soon as her eyes landed on them. A table of two women, staring and whispering.

“Siebren…” she started, giving him a pleading look. “They’re staring at me!”

He turned to look where she was pointing, and the two women visibly reacted, turning their heads towards each other.

Siebren was immediately incensed. “I’ll take care of this,” he said simply, standing up and walking towards the table.

Standing at his full seven feet of height, he loomed over them, glaring down at them. Their eyes widened, and they looked up at him like cornered rodents.

“Take a picture,” he growled down at them, his words deliberate and staccato. “It will last longer.”

They muttered a couple of “I’m sorry”s, looking down and away from him in shame.

Without another word, he turned around and walked back to his own table.

Sitting down, he smiled at Anya. “Don’t worry, mijn beste. Everything’s okay. Now, why don’t you tell me all about your first day back, hm?”

“Well...it’s mostly been business as usual...except I got called into a meeting a little after 11.”

He tried to look as if he didn’t already know. “Oh?”

She gave a nod, pushing some food around with her fork. “Yeah. They apologized for the ball, and made me an offer…” She sighed. “They want to give me a private office if I agree to work on a new project for them. The thing is, I don’t know if they even have a team assembled for it yet. I can’t do it all myself, he  _ said _ I’d have a team but…I just don’t know.”

“I think you should take the offer,” he said, trying to sound helpful. “Everything will fall into place. You just have to trust them. What are the downsides to taking the offer?”

“I’d be working on a brand-new project with  _ hopefully _ a whole team of people I’ve never met before. That’s scary to me. I don’t know how well I’m going to get along with whoever they choose, and plus, the project hasn’t even been designed yet! It’s just an idea!”

“Did they say when you’d be starting work on it?”

“...No, they didn’t. Just that I would be.”

“Then I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I don’t see too many real downsides to this offer, at least the way you’re telling it to me. I’d take it, if I were you.”

“I’m just worried about it being a totally new project is all…”

He smiled at her. “Don’t worry, my love. It’ll be taken care of.”

She couldn’t help but smile back. “Oh, alright...maybe I will take it.”

_ Good girl, _ he wanted to say. “Now, eat, liefste. You can think about it some more later.”

After they were done, he accompanied her back to her desk and gave her a kiss. “Have a good afternoon. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she replied, smiling up at him. The words still felt like magic on her tongue.

As he turned around and left, Anya sat down and, with a shaking hand, pulled the piece of paper out of her pocket, unfolding it and beginning to read where she’d left off.

“We request that you urge her to take our offer. Do not let her know the truth. Her faith in Lucentra must be restored.

If she does not accept, we cannot guarantee your safety or hers. Remember where you came from,  _ Subject Sigma. _

We look forward to your response.”

The letter was signed by a couple of different names, and though the signatures were messy, she swore one of them bore a resemblance to Moira’s name.

Back at his own desk, Siebren sat down with a sigh, ready to begin working on his reply to that letter he’d received earlier—

He stopped, frozen solid, his blood running cold.

_ Where was the letter? _


	14. Chapter 14

_ Oh God, this cannot be happening, _ he thought. He started to tear apart the already disorganized desk, shuffling through papers to find the one he  _ swore _ he left  _ right on top. _

“No, no, no…!” If the contents of that letter got out, his very life may be at risk.

Sitting down to think for a moment, he remembered something.

Anya had been standing at his desk, looking nervous.

His eyes widened.

_ She had it. _

He sighed, both in relief and in exasperation. He reached for his cell phone and called her.

“Hello?”

“Anya. My love. Come to my desk, please. We need to talk.”

“Uh, okay? Is everything alright?”

“We just need to have a quick talk,” he replied, dodging the question. “I’ll be here waiting.”

“Okay...see you in a little bit.”

“Indeed.” Perhaps that sounded a bit cold, but he wasn’t in the best of moods. He hung up the call and put his phone back down on his desk.

When Anya came in, he was sitting at his messier-than-usual desk, his hands pressed together, resting against his mouth.

“Siebren, is everything okay?”

“Did you take something from my desk?” He asked calmly, looking into her eyes as she approached him.

Her heart sped up. “W-What are you talking about?” She replied, her eyebrows furrowing.

“Did. You take something. From. My desk?” He repeated slowly. “Be honest with me, mijn schat. I need to know if you took it.”

She stood there stock-still for a moment, before reaching into her pocket, pulling something out and unfolding it. She held it up for him to see. “This?” She asked, pointing at the Talon logo on it. “Is  _ this _ what you’re looking for?”

He let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, his arms dropping to his sides. “Thank God. Okay. I can deal with this. I can—”

“What? What can you deal with?” She spat. “Because  _ I _ have to deal with the fact that my  _ boyfriend _ is working for  _ Talon!” _ She jabbed her finger at the logo.

“It’s not like that,” he tried to explain. “Listen to me, Anya. It’s not what you think.”

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t walk out on you right now!” She yelled, tears building up in her eyes. Did he not see how serious this was?

A jolt of fear penetrated him. He was on the verge of losing everything that mattered to him. “I can give you two,” he started, trying to calm her down. “One is that I love you dearly, and I would stop at nothing to see you happy.” He paused, waiting for another outburst, but one never came. “The second is that I didn’t  _ choose  _ to work with them. It...it’s more complicated than that, Anya. Come here and sit down,” he said, floating the spare chair over to his desk, settling it down next to him. “Please.”

“Why should I get close to you?” She asked, her tears beginning to spill.

“Anya, please don’t cry, I know you’re scared but please, come here and sit down, I promise you that I will explain  _ everything.” _

Against her better judgement, she gave in, taking a few shaky steps to the other side of the desk and sitting down.

He took a deep breath. “I have informed you about the black hole accident, correct?”

“Yes.”

“What I didn’t tell you was that it practically tore my mind apart. I was trapped in a padded cell for years. Until they rescued me,” he explained.

“Who did?”

“Talon.” He paused. “Under their care, I started to become better. The pieces of my shattered mind started to come back together. I lost years of my life to this accident, and I would still be in that padded cell if it weren’t for them. I am infinitely grateful to them. They saved my life, Anya. It’s because of them I have everything I have right now. Including you.”

“But why do you still work with them? You...you know what they do! You’ve seen the headlines, you’ve seen the...the  _ destruction _ they cause!”

“Because if I tried to cut ties, I don’t know what they would do to me. Or you. We would both be in grave danger if I tried to leave. I’m so sorry, Anya.” He looked deflated and sad. “There’s nothing I can do.”

She felt a stab of sorrow run through her heart. It was difficult to see him like this. “I’m sorry…” She said, sniffling. “I didn’t realize…”

“It’s alright. I love you so much, mijn schat, I wish I could keep you safe from them but I  _ can’t. _ I wish things weren’t like this.”

“I love you too,” she said, giving a weak smile. That smile quickly disappeared, though, when she looked back down at the letter in her hand. “I...I have some more questions.”

“Go ahead, schatje. I said I would explain everything, and I intend on doing so.”

She held the letter out to him, pointing at one sentence. “What is…‘the truth’?”

His already fairly low expression fell even further. “I...I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not?”

“Because it clearly says not to,” he said simply. “So I can’t.”

“You said you’d explain everything. You can’t leave parts out just because they—”

“Yes, I can. I’m sorry, Anya, but it’s for the best that you just don’t know.”

She scowled at him. “Siebren, I...I demand that you tell me! Or...or I’ll...I’ll leave you. I will. I can’t stay in a relationship where you’re keeping secrets from me. Tell me.”

_ Shit. _ He sighed. He could call her bluff, but he didn’t want to take the chance that she wasn’t bluffing. He would rather die than lose her. “Fine. But I want to make one thing clear first.”

“Which is?”

“You are  _ going _ to take that offer you told me about.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“You and I will both be safe if you take the offer. Do not let anyone know what I am about to tell you, and take the offer. Do you understand me?”

“I...yeah. Sure.”

He leaned forward and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Anya, who do you think owns Lucentra?”

“Dr. O’Deorain.”

“Right. I didn’t get to tell you why she and I are friends. She and I are friends because she’s the one who led the operation to break me out of the facility I was being held in.”

She thought for a minute, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Suddenly, her eyes went wide.

_ Talon owns Lucentra. _

“Oh, my God…” She whimpered, “I think I’m going to be sick…” She held a hand to her mouth.

“I’m sorry, Anya. I really am. You don’t deserve to be in this position.”

As he spoke, tears began to run down her cheeks. He reached for the tissue box on his desk, pulling one out and handing it to her. “Here. Please don’t cry anymore, liefste. It’s all going to be okay.”

“No, it’s not, how am I supposed to do my job knowing that I’m supporting  _ Talon? _ How am I supposed to go on like this?”

He sighed, squeezing her shoulder gently. “You just have to stay strong until I can figure out a way out of this mess. Until then, please, for the love of God,  _ take the offer.” _

It was at that moment she made a decision. “I...I’m going back to my desk now,” she said, putting the letter back on his desk. “I’ll...I’ll be okay.”

He smiled at her. “Good. I’ll see you later. I love you, schatje.”

“I love you too,” she said with a weak smile, before standing up and walking away.

Before long, it was the end of the day, and Anya, clutching a piece of paper, walked only somewhat confidently up to the door of the CEO’s office. She knocked three times, and a voice rang out. “Come in.”

She opened the door and strode in, up to his desk.

He smiled at her. “Ah, Anya. Good to see you. I take it you’re here to accept our offer, yes?”

“No.” She held out the piece of paper in her hand. “In fact, I’m here to resign.”

James looked taken aback. “What? You can’t quit, you’re—you’re our star! Anya, please reconsider. I’ll even authorize a raise for you. What would it take to make you stay? Fifty percent? Seventy-five? Even a hundred! I’m willing to double your salary if you just...don’t quit!”

She shook her head. “Money isn’t the problem, sir. I’m sorry, but there’s a conflict of interest,” she said, not wanting to go into detail. She was already in violation of her agreement with Siebren. She didn’t want to make it worse. “I’m handing you my resignation letter. Effective immediately, I am no longer an employee of the Lucentra Corporation.”

Reluctantly, he reached out and took the letter, giving it a quick look. “Fine. Thank you for your hard work, Anya. Good luck.”

“Thank you, sir.”

With that, she turned around and left the office, headed to the car.

Alone in his office, James picked up his phone, dialing a number. “Operation Point Blank is go. Tomorrow morning.”


	15. Chapter 15

In the car on the way home, Siebren attempted to start a conversation - Anya seemed unusually quiet. “So, how was the rest of your day?”

“Fine,” she answered simply.

“Did you talk to Mr. Roberts about accepting the offer?”

“Yes and no. I quit.”

The car screeched to a near-halt, veering off into the shoulder.

“What?!” He yelled, turning to face her.

“Siebren, I can’t in good conscience continue to work for—”

“Oh, no, no...Anya, do you have any idea what you’ve done?! I...my life is on the line! Do you want me  _ dead?” _

“No! Nobody is going to kill you because I quit my job. That’s just stupid. I—”

“Anya, this is  _ Talon _ we’re talking about! They will stop at nothing to get what they want, and they want  _ you! _ Oh, my God...what the fuck am I going to do?” He wondered aloud, voice dripping with despair.

“You’re going to drive us home and relax. Everything will be fine. Talon doesn’t  _ need  _ me, and if they have any sense at all, they’ll realize it.”

“I hope, for your sake and mine, that you’re right,” he said in a low voice, pulling back onto the road.

The next morning, Anya stayed in bed as Siebren got ready for work as usual. He said goodbye to her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I love you, Anya. Never forget that.”

She gave him a sleepy smile. “I love you too, Siebren.”

With an uneasy feeling in his gut, he left for the day, locking the door behind him. Anya quickly fell back to sleep, deciding she’d start her job hunt after a nap.

A loud bang startled her out of sleep, and she sat bolt upright.  _ What the hell was that? _ She slid on her slippers and headed downstairs to investigate.

She was greeted by a number of masked men with guns pointed at her. She put her hands into the air, silently begging them not to shoot. Two unarmed men surged forward and took hold of her arms, dragging her towards the forced-open front door. She screamed for help, but her mouth was quickly covered by a gloved hand.

The men forced her into the back of a black van, locking her in and driving off, their destination a mystery. She was too scared to cry, sitting quietly, surrounded by armed guards. The seconds felt like hours as she was driven further and further from home.

Finally the van pulled to a halt, and Anya was forced out into the basement of a building.

A building she recognized.

She was pushed into a dark room, illuminated by a single light bulb over a desk. She was forced to sit down in the chair at the desk, and a man stepped out of the shadows.

James.

“Good to see you again, Anya,” he greeted her as if nothing was wrong.

“What...what the hell is going on?” She asked, voice wavering.

“Well, you see, you did something yesterday that I just couldn’t accept,” he explained coolly. “So I called in my friends to see if we could get you to reverse your decision.”

“I’m not working for Talon!” She yelled from her seat, her expression angry. “I’m not working for an organization dedicated to terrorism!”

James frowned. “You don’t understand. You don’t have much of a choice. You’re here right now because I’m giving you the opportunity to rescind your resignation. Sign this paper, and I’ll let you go.”

“Never.”

He tutted, turning away. “Bring him out,” he called into the darkness.

Three figures stepped forward - two armed guards...and Siebren, tape over his mouth and handcuffs on his wrists.

Anya’s eyes went wide. “Siebren!” Why wasn’t he fighting back? Surely he could use his power to get out of this situation. Nevertheless, she turned to look at James. “Let him go!”

James let out a laugh, then approached Siebren, ripping the tape off of his mouth. “Do you have anything to say?”

“Sign the paper, Anya,” Siebren said, sounding weak and in pain. His eyes stayed focused on the floor.

“I...I can’t! I don’t...I don’t want to work for Talon!”

James tilted his head. “Shock him, boys.”

Immediately, Siebren cried out in pain as a shock stick was jabbed into his side.

_ “Siebren!” _ She shrieked. She tried to get up, to run to him, but she was held down. “Let—let go of me!”

“It’s really simple, Anya,” James said, turning around and sauntering back over to the desk. “I’ll let you both go if you just  _ sign. This. Paper.” _ He slid the paper closer to her.

She looked down, reading it through the tears in her eyes. “I don’t...want to…”

Siebren cried out again, and Anya’s tears began to fall. “Stop, you’re hurting him!”

“Sign the paper, and you both will be free to go. But every second you don’t sign it is another potential shock. You’re a smart girl, Anya. I’m sure you can figure out what the best course of action is here.”

“This isn’t fair…” She whined, wiping her eyes. “You can’t do this!”

“Oh, but I can. I am doing it, in fact. Shock him again.”

Siebren once again cried out in pain as the shock tore through him.

“Enough!” Anya cried, looking down at the paper. It promised her the corner office and a fairly substantial raise...as well as locking her in to work for Lucentra - and therefore Talon - indefinitely. She wouldn’t be allowed to quit. “I’ll sign it, just...stop hurting him!”

James was silent, watching as she picked up the pen on the desk with her trembling hand. It hovered over the signature line for a moment as she thought about a way out of this. But there was none. She gave a sob and signed her name on the line.

“Very good! See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” James said in a strangely saccharine voice. He turned to the men holding Siebren hostage. “Let him go.”

The handcuffs came off and they let go of him. He dropped to his knees, exhausted and still hurting. They had not been gentle with him.

Anya shot up out of her chair and ran to him, falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around him. He weakly reached up and held her close. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” She cried, sobbing into his shoulder.

“It’s okay. I’m okay,” he said, trying to reassure her.

“Now, since I’m so  _ nice,” _ James started, turning to face the reunited couple, “I’ll give you both the rest of the day off. You’ve been through a lot,” he said, mockingly sympathetic.

Anya wanted to stand up, to face him, to call him a monster, but she just couldn’t tear herself away from Siebren.

“Don’t cry,” Siebren said to her, voice somewhat hoarse. Had he been screaming recently?

“You could have been killed and it’s all my fault,” she whimpered, tightening her grip on him.

“It’s alright. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“You two really should head on home, you know. You’re wasting your time off.”

Siebren reluctantly let go of Anya and stood up, slowly, wincing in pain. Anya stood up too, and he took her by the hand, leading her out of the room.

“See you two tomorrow,” James said, smiling at them as they left.

Back at home, the first thing that greeted them was the open front door. Siebren surveyed the damage to it. “Kicked open,” he muttered, eyeing the splintered wood.

Anya couldn’t bring herself to say anything. It was her fault, after all. She’d brought this upon them. She started to cry again, and he turned towards her, putting an arm around her.

“Come on...let’s go upstairs.”

She followed him up to their bedroom, where she sat down on the bed and he began to get changed out of his work clothes.

It was then that she noticed the bruises, splotches of black and blue marking him.

“Siebren…!”

“Hm?”

She pointed a shaking hand at one, and he looked down at himself.

“Oh…”

She began to wail, curling up on herself. “I’m s-sorry!” She choked out between sobs.

Half-dressed, he sat down next to her, reaching over and pulling her into his lap, cradling her in his arms. “It’s okay. They’re just bruises. I’m fine, I promise.”

His reassurance wasn’t enough, though, as she continued to loudly cry. He got hurt because of her. Even if he could forgive her, she couldn’t forgive herself.

He let out a long shush sound and began to gently rock her from side to side in an attempt to calm her. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No…”

He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s all that matters. I was so afraid that they’d hurt you…”

“B-But...you’re—”

“I’ll be fine. It’s nothing I can’t handle. My priority is, and always will be, you. As long as you’re safe, I’ll be okay.”


	16. Chapter 16

With a sigh, Anya pushed open the door to her new office, a box of her possessions from her previous desk under one arm.

She’d expected it to be empty, of course. But even with the lights off, the sun streaming in through the windows was more than enough to illuminate the fact that there was a woman standing in her office.

“Are you lost?” Anya asked. “This is a private office.”

“Nope, I’m right where I need to be,” the woman responded, with a smile and a coy flick of her long brown and purple hair. “You must be Anya.”

“Congrats, you can read,” Anya replied sarcastically, jabbing her thumb on her free hand at the nameplate on the door. “Who are you and what are you doing in my office?”

“Aw, I thought you’d be a little more excited to see your new teammate!”

“My new…?” With a sigh, Anya reached in and flicked the light switch before walking in and plunking the box she held down on the desk. “Listen. I’m not in the greatest of moods; I’ve had a rough couple of days. I thought you were here to kidnap me. So please, for the love of God, get explaining.”

The mystery woman looked at Anya and noticed the bags under her eyes - clearly, she was stressed out. Perhaps she could do her a favor and explain. “I’m So—” She almost used her code name, which she’d been explicitly instructed not to do.  _ “Sorry,”  _ she said, recovering nicely. “My name is Olivia. I’ve been reassigned to work with you on Dataguard.”

“Is that what they’re calling it? We don’t even have a software design yet, but we have a  _ name?” _ Anya asked, exasperated. She plopped herself into her new chair and ran a hand over her face. “I’m sorry. It is nice to meet you. I’m just…” She trailed off, putting her elbows on the desk and her head in her hands.

Olivia frowned. “Are you okay? Wanna talk about it?”

“I...I can’t. I’ll be okay...I think,” Anya replied, as she began to tremble and tears began to build in her eyes. “Or maybe not,” she noted, voice wavering.

Biting her lip, Olivia glanced at the door. “Should...should I go?”

“Please,” Anya said weakly as she began to cry yet again.

Without another word, Olivia slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her. 

Ten minutes later, a knock sounded at the door.

Anya said nothing. She was too emotionally exhausted to deal with it.

The door opened anyway, and Olivia poked her head into the room. “Anya, are you okay?”

“No,” she answered simply, crossing her arms on the desk and laying her face down on them.

“Come on, we need you to be okay. We have our first team meeting in less than an hour!”

She groaned into her arms.

Olivia’s expression softened. “What happened? You said you’ve had a rough couple of days. Anything I can do to help?”

Anya sighed and pulled her face up, resting her chin on her arms. “They hurt him,” she said quietly, tears spilling down her cheeks. “They hurt Siebren and it was all my fault.”

That was all she needed to know. “Listen. I can help you,” she soothed, coming closer to Anya, gently resting a hand on her cheek. “But I need you to help me first.”

“Oh, no…” Anya groaned.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I don’t want money or sex or anything like that,” she said, attempting to calm her. “You see, I’m in the business of  _ information. _ I know that in your old office, you could overhear some seriously good conversations, since the water cooler was  _ just _ next door.” She paused, and Anya gave a nod. “I just want to know what you may have heard about any of the higher-ups here. Give me something to work with, and I’ll help you out.”

Anya squinted at her. “What could you possibly do to help? Y-You can’t un-hurt him. You can’t undo this,” she said with a sniffle.

“Maybe not. But I can make people pay for whatever it is they did. You just have to trust me. Can you do that?”

She sighed. What did she have to lose at this point? “Sure,” she said, deadpan and flat.

“Wonderful. Just give me any little tidbit of information you may have overheard, and I’ll be on my way.”

Anya opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She shut it and stared at the wall as a memory began to unfold in her mind, a memory of overhearing a conversation one evening.

“The CFO is having an affair with Dave from accounting.” Anya blurted the words out, still staring at the wall.

Olivia’s eyes went wide. “What? Really?”

“Yes, unless he made that up. I heard it straight out of his mouth.”

A huge smile spread itself across her face, and she restrained herself from breaking out into a happy dance. “Oh, yes, that’s amazing!” She exclaimed, finally pulling her hand away from Anya’s face. “Now, you stay put right here, and I’ll go work some magic for you. Okay?”

“Okay,” Anya answered, lip quivering.

With a wink, Olivia turned and left the office, once again leaving Anya alone to cry.

She burst into the CEO’s office, prompting him to whip his head towards her. “Hey, whoa, ever heard of knocking?” He asked, indignant.

“What did you do to them?”

James looked puzzled. “To who? I’ve done a lot of things to a lot of people, you’re going to have to be more specific.”

Olivia sighed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. “Anya and Siebren.”

He winced. “You know about that, huh?”

“She’s been in tears practically all morning. I asked her what the problem is, and she said, and I quote, ‘they hurt him.’ What did you  _ do?” _

He cleared his throat. “Quite frankly, Miss Colomar, it’s none of your business. Besides, why do you care, anyway? It’s out of character for you.”

“I thought you wanted me to be friends with her. Last time I checked, friends cared about each other,” she pointed out, not telling him the real reason she cared.

“Well, yes, but…uh…” he started, faltering.

“Need I remind you I could bring down this company with a flick of my wrist?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would, and you know it. What did you do?”

He sighed, defeated. “Personally, I didn’t do anything. I cannot, however, speak for the armed units I employed to get the job done.”

She glared at him, unamused. “You’re not innocent, James. Just because you didn’t touch anyone yourself doesn’t mean your hands aren’t dirty.”

“Alright! I had her forcibly escorted here to sign the contract binding her to us.”

“And what about Siebren?”

“Look. He told her about Lucentra’s Talon connection despite having been clearly instructed  _ not to. _ He had to be punished. He...may also have been used as leverage to get Anya to sign the contract.”

She sighed, placing a hand over her face for a moment. “You’re going to fix this. We have our first team meeting in less than an hour now, and she’s completely worthless to us like this. It was  _ you _ who decided she would be the lead developer on this project, if you’ll recall. Why is the CEO getting involved in such low-level operations, anyway?”

“Now that’s  _ really _ none of your business. Suffice it to say Talon wanted it, so I made it happen.”

“Fine. Whatever. Fix your mess, or I’ll ruin this company.”

He looked at her for a moment, assessing the situation, before coming to the conclusion that it would be best if he didn’t try and call her bluff. “Fine.” He picked up his phone, dialing a number. “Sana. Bring Miss Anderson and Dr. de Kuiper into my office. Please.” He hung up, putting the phone back down. “There. Happy?”

“I will be happy when Anya isn’t crying anymore.”

“That...may be a tall order.” He paused. “You can leave now, you know.”

“Oh, I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here until you prove to me that you can clean up after yourself.”

He let out a grumble. “Fine. Then at least stand off to the side a bit.”

She begrudgingly obeyed, taking a few steps to one side, leaving the area in front of his desk empty.

It stayed silent in the room while they waited for Sana to bring in the couple. However, when she arrived, she was accompanied only by Siebren.

“I thought I said to bring Miss Anderson as well,” James pointed out.

“She would not come, and I do not have the authority to force her. When told that her presence was required, she said, quote, ‘what’s he gonna do? Fire me?’”

Olivia let out a laugh.

James sighed - she was right, he couldn’t exactly fire her. He turned his attention to Siebren with a smile. “Doctor,” he began warmly, “how have you been?”

“Fine,” Siebren replied, his eyes focused on the floor.

He knew that was a lie, but he didn’t bother calling it out. “Good. Would you do me the biggest of favors and go collect Anya? I do need to speak with both of you.”

“Sure,” he said, rather flatly. He turned and left the room, headed for Anya’s office.

Anya heard the knock at her office door and let out an exasperated sigh. She decided to stay quiet, hoping whoever it was would leave.

They didn’t, and the door opened anyway. “What’s the point of having a door if people are just gonna—” She cut herself off upon seeing who was on the other side of the door. “Oh. Hi, dear.”

“Anya, please come with me.”

“No.” Plain and simple.

He sighed. “Please, love. He says he needs to talk to both of us.”

“I refuse to be in the same room as that monster,” she said, voice wavering.

“I understand how you feel, but I think this may be important.”

“Yeah, well, what’s he gonna do if I don’t go? Fire me? He won’t. He won’t touch me.”

He pulled up his shirt, showing off a bruise. “Do you want this to happen to you?”

“No…” She whined.

“Then come with me, or I can’t promise you you’ll be safe from harm,” he said, tucking his shirt back in.

“This isn’t fair.” Tears rolled down her cheeks again.

“I know, liefste. But it’s what we have to deal with.”

Wiping her eyes, she stood up and came out from behind her desk.

“Good girl,” he said encouragingly. He put an arm around her and gently guided her away.

Inside James’ office, the door opened to reveal the couple.

“Welcome back, doctor. I see you’ve succeeded in collecting Miss Anderson,” James observed. “Anya. I hear you haven’t been doing so well,” he said with a frown as the door shut behind them.

Siebren tried to guide her further into the room, but she wouldn’t budge. She silently stared at her hands, fingers interlaced, thumbs rubbing circles around each other.

James took the silence as agreement. “You are both probably wondering what I’ve called you in for. Well, I’d like to start with an apology for yesterday.” He looked over at Olivia, who gave him the sign to keep going. “I...went too far, and I should not have acted in the way I did. I’m sorry.” He paused. “Doctor, did you require medical attention?”

“No,” he replied simply.

James looked relieved. “Good, that’s good. I want to ask both of you: is there anything I can do to make up for what I’ve done?”

Anya stayed silent, staring downwards, but Siebren spoke up. “Our front door needs to be repaired.” Anya sniffled.

“I’ll have a team on it within the hour.” He paused again, looking at Anya. “Anya, you’ve been quiet. Is there anything I can do for you?”

She mumbled a short sentence that neither James nor Siebren could make out.

“Come again?”

She picked up her head and stared at him, fire in her tear-filled eyes. “You can go to hell,” she said, speaking clearly.

Siebren’s eyes went wide, and they flicked between Anya and James. Should he speak up?

James simply sighed and frowned. “Yes, I had figured that’s how you’d feel. I fully admit that my actions and words towards you were cruel. I thought that there was no other way to get you to stay, especially with you  _ knowing too much,” _ he said, finishing with a glare towards Siebren. His face quickly returned to normal, however, as he continued to speak. “But that doesn’t excuse what I’ve done. Please, Anya. Allow me to make it up to you.”

She scowled at him, trembling with a mixture of fear and anger. “How can you possibly give me back what I’ve lost?”

He looked confused, tilting his head slightly. “What have you lost?”

“My freedom to choose where I work and the ability to feel safe in my own home!” She shouted.

“Ah.” He nodded once. “Regrettably, I can’t do anything about the first thing. My hands are tied there; your continued involvement with the company has been ordered by someone above even me. However, I can perhaps help out with that second thing. You are both so valuable to us, and I want to make absolutely sure that you are both well taken care of. What would you like from me?”

“I-I want to feel safe again,” Anya said, tears overflowing once again. “That’s all I want.”

James bit his lip - he wasn’t sure how to deal with this. He looked over at Olivia for guidance, but all she did was cross her arms and lower her eyebrows. It was his job to fix this, and his alone. “Well, um. I can promise you that in the future, I will take smaller steps before resorting to drastic measures. Sadly, I can’t rule out the possibility of the use of force, but I can say that I’ll do everything I can to reduce that possibility. We never  _ want _ to hurt you—”

“Bullshit,” Anya spat, “you hurt him and you did it gladly!”

James sighed yet again. “You’re right about one thing: I did issue the orders for Siebren to be hurt. But I did not do so gladly, and I deeply regret having done so at all, especially now that I’ve seen how much it has affected you. I don’t want to do this again, and therefore I promise you I will make every effort to avoid it happening in the future,” he said, fingers crossed beneath his desk.

Anya nodded with a sniffle, and Siebren’s grip on her tightened.

“Do you feel any better now, Anya?”

“A little bit, I guess…”

“Will you be able to make it through your meeting?”

She let out a low grumble. “I guess I have to, don’t I?”

James looked at Olivia, who finally decided to speak up. “Well, if you’re  _ really _ not feeling up to it, we could reschedule for next week, but I’m sure the team would prefer otherwise.”

Tears still flowing, Anya reached up and rubbed at her eyes. “I just want to go home,” she whimpered.

“Olivia, have the meeting rescheduled,” James said, before turning back to face the couple. “I’m going to authorize both of you to take the rest of the week off. This entire thing has been my fault, and I won’t see either of you carrying the consequences. Now, is there anything else - anything at all - that I can do for you?”

Siebren looked down at Anya, who shook her head. “No, that will be all. Thank you very much,” he said.

“In that case, I’ll make the phone call to have your front door repaired. Rest well, and we’ll see you on Monday. You are dismissed.” James turned back to face Olivia. “You too, you know.”

Olivia rolled her eyes, but made no other reply as she moved towards the door.

In the hallway, Siebren ran a hand down his face, relieved to still be alive.

“I don’t trust him,” Anya said quietly, unsure who - or what - might be listening.

“Good. Don’t. Don’t you ever trust a single word a Talon member tells you,” he said. “There’s about a seventy percent chance they’re lying through their teeth. If he’s truly sorry for what he’s done, I will buy a hat for the express purpose of eating it.”

Anya let out a slight chuckle - the first smile he’d seen on her since two days prior. He couldn’t help but stare for a moment, and he himself smiled as well.

“Hey!” Olivia interjected. The couple’s smiles faded as they turned to look at her. “I’m a member of Talon too, and I didn’t lie to you. Did I, Anya?”

“Well, no…”

Siebren squinted at Olivia, instinctively moving closer to Anya. “Why? What did you tell her?”

“I told her I’d help her out. And I did! I got James to clean up after himself. I’m sorry you aren’t feeling any better, Anya.”

Anya looked up at Siebren, who seemed perfectly content to do all the talking. “What did you make her give you for your...services?” He asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Don’t look at me like that, all I asked for was some information!”

“Of course.”

“Y’know, some thanks would be in order!” Olivia said, exasperated, putting her hands on her hips.

Siebren sighed. “You’re right. Thank you,” he replied with the slightest of smiles. He turned back to look down at Anya. “Come on, let’s go home.”

She simply nodded in response, reaching out and taking hold of his hand. He smiled down at her, and they turned and walked away.


	17. Chapter 17

The days seemed to tick by agonizingly slowly to Anya, who was begrudgingly fulfilling the contract she had been forced to sign. Sure, the new office was nice, and the raise was something she hadn’t expected, but it didn’t cushion the fact that she knew what her efforts were really supporting. After the contract incident, despite the best efforts of those around her, she fell into a depression, and it seemed like nothing could pull her out of it.

One day in the spring, Anya and Siebren were having lunch together when he remembered something.

“Oh! Tonight, there’s going to be a meteor shower, and I wanted to take you to the gardens to watch it.”

Anya’s fairly sullen expression didn’t change. “I don’t know…”

“Come on, mijn beste, it’ll be good for you - you haven’t gotten out much recently. Plus, we haven’t gone on a date in quite some time, and I think it’s time to fix that.”

She knew if she refused one more time, he’d back down. But did she want to disappoint him like that?

He continued to speak, hoping to persuade her. “We can watch in your favorite spot, near the hydrangeas.”

She hadn’t expected him to remember her favorite flower. A small smile broke out on her face, and she looked into his eyes. “Oh, alright. I’ll go with you.”

He smiled wide; he’d have hugged her, were there not a table and food in the way. “Splendid! You won’t regret it, I promise.” His smile turned almost mischievous.

Anya’s eyebrows dipped, though her smile remained. “What’s that look for?”

“What look?” He asked innocently, attempting to get his expression under control.

“You look like you’re plotting something.”

“I can assure you, I’m doing nothing of the sort.”

“Okay…” she conceded, though she wasn’t entirely convinced.

After lunch, as usual, he took her back to her office, but smiling the entire time.

Anya noticed, and squinted at him. “Alright, what is it? You’re smiling like the cat who got the mouse.”

He held a hand to his chest. “I’m simply excited for tonight, that’s all.”

She couldn’t shake the feeling that  _ something _ was up. She tilted her head slightly, looking up at him. “You better not be pulling anything funny or so help me I will injure you!” She cried, mostly joking. He was almost two feet taller than her and several times stronger - she was practically useless against him.

“Don’t worry, liefste, I’m not ‘pulling anything funny,’” he said, repeating her words. “I’m just excited. Like I said, we haven’t gone on a date in some time. I’m looking forward to seeing you relax.”

She couldn’t help but calm down a little bit at that. “Oh, alright…”

He bent down and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’ll see you in a few hours, mijn lieverd. Have a good afternoon.”

“You too,” she replied, smiling up at him. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

With that, he turned and left the office, leaving Anya to wonder what exactly he was up to. Walking back to the elevator, he reached into his pocket and fiddled with the small box that had taken up residence there. It would be time soon.

Late that evening, they headed out to Grand Lake Gardens. Upon getting there, they noticed a fairly heavy amount of traffic for it being nighttime. “Seems like a lot of people had the same idea we did,” Siebren noted, parking the car.

The walk to their viewing spot was longer than they’d anticipated, having had to park somewhat far away from the area due to the amount of people already there, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. They walked hand in hand, looking up at the sky every so often. Finally, they reached the spot, marked with blue and purple hydrangeas. There were already people standing there, eyes trained towards the sky.

They fit themselves into the crowd nicely, and he wrapped an arm around her, holding her close. Standing there together, they watched the sky, meteors streaking through the blackness.

Anya’s eyes sparkled as she watched them, and an unmistakable smile formed on her face. He looked down at her and felt warmth radiate throughout him at seeing her looking so happy. She hadn’t looked like this in months.

It was time.

“Anya.”

“Hm?” She looked at him, curious.

“You look so beautiful in the starlight, mijn beste,” he said, heart pounding in his chest. He reached his free hand into his pocket, trembling slightly. His hand closed around the small box, finally pulling it out. “I love you more than words can express. You are absolutely the light of my life. Just a year ago, I thought I’d never fall in love as deeply as I have. I thought I’d never have something like this. Now that I have it, I never want to lose it. With that in mind...”

As he finished speaking, he pulled his arm away from her, leaving her looking slightly confused.

He put both hands on the small box he held and got down on one knee, opening the box and holding it out to her. A diamond ring sat inside, nestled in black satin.

“Anya Rose Anderson, will you marry me?”

Her eyes widened and her hands flew up to her mouth. Her gaze flicked between his face and the ring as tears began to build in her eyes - tears of joy.

She was acutely aware that the crowd was staring, but for once in her life, she didn’t mind.

“Yes!” She finally cried, pulling her hands away from her face, instead clasping them in front of her chest. “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!”

As the crowd broke out into applause, he beamed up at her, his smile as wide as it could be. He stood up again and held out one hand to her. “May I?”

She nodded quickly, holding out her left hand. He took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her ring finger - a perfect fit. She admired it for a moment - it was a silver ring with three diamonds, the center one larger than the others.

“You’re shaking. Are you okay?”

She looked away from her hand and up at him, pinprick tears still present in the corners of her eyes. “I’ve never been happier.”

He took half a step forward, closing the already-small gap between them. He gently placed one hand beneath her chin, lifting it before bending down and pressing a kiss to her lips.

When he finally pulled away, he looked into her eyes and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “I love you so much, Anya.” He had so much more to say, of course, but he decided to just leave it at that for now.

“I love you too, Siebren.” She returned the hug, arms around his waist.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explicit chapter!

When they arrived home that evening, Anya followed Siebren up to the front door. He opened it and moved aside, allowing her to enter first. She stepped inside, and he followed, shutting the door behind them.

As soon as the door was shut, he guided her to stand against the wall and his hands began to roam about her body, looking her in the eyes with a mischievous smile on. Without saying a word, he pressed his lips to hers for a few moments, then kissed a line over and down her cheek, down to her neck, where he set to work. He latched onto the side of her neck, sucking on the delicate flesh there. It drew from her a moan, and she put her hands on the backs of his shoulders, holding him.

When he finally stood up straight again, her arms fell to her sides, and he surveyed the spot he’d worked on - he could already see a bruise taking root. He smiled devilishly, taking pride in having marked his territory. One of his hands landed on her breast, rubbing it in slow circles, while the other hand reached up beneath her skirt and very lightly brushed against her lower lips. She gasped and bit her lip, and his smile grew. “Well? Shall I continue?”

“Ffffuck, yes,  _ please…” _ She whined, looking up at him - though her eyes didn’t quite meet his; her gaze instead fixated itself on his chin.

He didn’t like that. “Look at me.”

Her eyes flicked upwards to look into his.

“That’s a good girl,” he responded in a sultry voice, his fingers dipping beneath her panties to reward her by directly playing with her clit.

Her eyes rolled back and her jaw dropped as the pleasure hit her. “Ah...ah, aha…”

“Do you want me to make you cum?”

She nodded quickly. “Uh-huh.”

That wasn’t good enough for him. “Say it.”

“Please make me cum,” she responded in a small voice, her cheeks growing hot.

He stopped what he was doing, taking his hands off her, and she looked up at him with a bewildered expression on. She’d done what he asked, what was the problem?

“Come upstairs with me, my pretty darling,” he whispered to her, “and I’ll make you feel amazing.”

He held out his hand to her, still smiling like the devil. Blushing madly, she took it, and he pulled her away from the wall and began to walk away with her in tow. He led her up the stairs and into their bedroom, where he didn’t even bother shutting the door before his hands were on her again. He grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled up; she lifted her arms, allowing him to remove the shirt entirely.

“Such a good girl…” He praised her, tossing the shirt aside. He bent down, hands on her cheeks, and kissed her again, lingering there for a few moments before his tongue darted out and swiped at her lip, prompting her to open her mouth. His tongue slid inside, meeting hers. One of his hands began to slip downward, fingers tracing over her neck and down her collarbone, coming to rest on her breast. He squeezed it and started to rub it in circles, at least until he got frustrated with her bra being in the way.

He broke off the kiss and moved his hands to her back. “The bra is coming off,” he muttered, unhooking it and pulling it off of her, throwing it to one side. “You know what? Everything else is coming off too.” He reached for the waistband of her skirt, slipping his thumbs beneath it, making sure he had hooked her panties too, and he began to push down.

“Hey, you need to undress too!” She cried out, and he paused for a moment to look her in the eyes.

“I will, schatje. I promise. But right here, right now, this is about  _ you. _ This is about showing my precious, perfect angel how much she means to me. Is that okay?”

Her blush intensified, and she nodded. “Yeah.”

A smile came back to his face. “Good,” he said simply, pushing her remaining clothing down. It fell to the floor, and he began to gently guide her backwards until she was standing against the edge of the bed. “Sit down and spread your legs,” he instructed her, running a hand down her arm.

She sat down just barely on the edge of the bed and slowly, hesitantly spread her legs. He didn’t seem to mind, though, as he knelt down in front of her, between her legs, as close to her as he could get. With finger and thumb he spread her lower lips; he leaned forward and began to lick at her clit, drawing from her a gasp and a moan. He smiled to himself as he kept at it, and she wove one hand’s fingers into his hair, gripping the top of his head.

After a short while, his other hand came up and one finger circled her entrance; satisfied with how wet she was, he slid his finger inside. Moments later, he added a second, starting to stretch and scissor them to open her up. He curled his fingers against her g-spot, and she threw her head back and howled in pleasure. 

“Oh God…” she started, panting. “I’m not going...t-to last…!”

All the words he could have used to give her permission started to swirl around inside his head, but he didn’t dare stop what he was doing to use any of them. She was starting to tremble, a sure sign she was getting close to the edge.

He continued licking her clit and rubbing his fingertips against her g-spot, and it proved to be more than she could handle. Her eyes rolled back and she cried out loud, her trembling turning to full-on shaking as the orgasm washed over her. He didn’t stop, though - he was going to make her ride it out for as long as possible.

“Okay, okay, that—that’s enough,” she said, breathing heavily, once his actions reached the point of discomfort. She let go of his hair and tapped his forehead for emphasis.

He finally stopped what he was doing, pulling his fingers out and looking up at her. “How did I do?” He asked with a smirk, knowing the answer already.

“Absolutely fantastic,” she replied quietly, smiling down at him.

He licked his fingers clean and stood up, wiping his mouth with the back of one hand before bending down and pressing a kiss to her lips. “Do you think you’re ready for me?” He asked, voice low and sensual.

Her heart leapt at the idea; she wanted him - all of him. “I do.”

“Wonderful.” His shirt quickly came off, followed by his pants and underwear. She couldn’t help but stare at his mostly-hard cock, her mouth open, but he placed a hand beneath her chin and lifted it so her gaze was redirected to his face. “Mm, not tonight, kleine. I told you this was about  _ you, _ and I won’t have you—”

“Returning the favor?” She finished for him, an eyebrow quirked.

“Well, I was going to say ‘doing any work for no return,’ but...sure, that works too.”

She rolled her eyes and giggled. “Fine, whatever you say. I’ll just have to go without tasting your delicious cock tonight.”

He bit his lip with a short, soft hiss as he imagined her with her full, beautiful lips wrapped around his shaft, her velvety tongue rubbing at the head - it was an incredibly tempting thought, but he had to stay strong. He wanted to spoil her tonight, almost as if he wanted to thank her for her enthusiastic “yes” in the park.

“Ah—yes. Yes you will,” he finally said in response to her. He cleared his throat and quickly made up his mind how he wanted her. “Lay down. Don’t move, just...lay down where you are.”

So she lowered her back to the mattress, and he gave himself just a couple of quick strokes to make sure he was fully hard. Unsurprisingly, he was; the combination of seeing her laid out bare for him and him alone, plus the fact that he was about to join his flesh with hers in the most glorious way, was enough to ensure that. He approached her and stepped his legs apart so that he was level with her before lining himself up with her entrance. “Are you ready?”

She felt his tip bump up against her, and she bit her lip. “Hnn, yes…”

“Okay.”

With that, he began to slowly push in, his gaze fixed on her face, watching carefully for any signs of discomfort or pain.

None ever came. Her eyes rolled back and her mouth opened wide as he slid in. She could feel herself stretching to fit him, and as his tip made contact with her cervix, she closed her eyes tightly and let out a loud moan. He smiled to himself - how he  _ loved _ making her make those sounds.

He bent down and placed his hands on the bed, next to her shoulders, and began to work up a moderate rhythm. “Ah...oh, schatje, you feel  _ divine... _ squeeze me just right…”

“Don’t say that…” she whined, embarrassed, and instinctively reached up to cover her face with her hands. He didn’t like that very much at all, and with a sigh, he pried her hands away from her face, interlacing his fingers with hers and ultimately pinning her hands to the bed. She struggled against him, but it was no use - he was far stronger than she was.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, my dearest. It’s just you and me here, nobody else will ever hear me tell you how  _ tight _ and  _ perfect _ you are.” He accented his words with harder thrusts.

“Oh! Yes, li-like that!” She cried out, her embarrassment seemingly forgotten.

“What, you want me to do this?” He asked, giving another hard thrust.

“Aha—oh, yes!”

“Hm, I was hoping we could take it slower and more romantic tonight, but...oh, how could I say no to my perfect princess?”

As he sped up, thrusting into her harder and harder, he bent down even further and pressed his lips to hers, muffling her cries into moans.

“Mmhm...mm...mmf…”

He quickly deepened the kiss, not knowing how much longer this would go on for, their tongues meeting, rubbing against one another as his long, thick cock practically slammed into her deepest spot over and over again.

Soon enough, she turned her head away from his, just long enough to break off the kiss. “Oh, Siebren, I-I’m so close…”

“Go ahead, darling. Let me feel you cum for me,” he said, his voice deep and alluring.

Mere seconds later, the orgasm crashed over her like a wave and she cried out as her whole body began to shake, her eyes rolling back. Her pussy fluttered around his dick, squeezing him even tighter than before. He bit his lip and moaned - he wasn’t going to last much longer at this rate.

Just as her body began to calm down, he felt his own orgasm burst from deep inside him. He let out a shout and gave one last thrust in, holding himself there as he filled her to the brim with his seed. He could feel it oozing out from around him, even before he tried to pull out. For a moment, though, he just stood there, bent over her, breathing heavily and staring into her eyes. He kissed her again, much more sweetly this time; there was no hurry, no rush. It was as if time stood still for them.

Slowly, he pulled out, and reluctantly let go of her hands to stand up straight. “Here, let me—”

She knew what he was planning on doing, and she didn’t want that - not yet, anyway. She sat up a bit, her hands shot out and grabbed his wrists, and he stopped, looking down at her with a bewildered expression on. “Not yet. Stay with me. Please?”

“But you’re leaking on the sheets.”

“Sheets can be washed.”

He sighed and smiled - she was right. Cleanup could wait. Cuddling was far more important. “Alright, let go of me so I can pick you up.”

She let go as she was told, and he picked her up as if she weighed nothing. She took hold of him, arms around his neck, and she picked up her legs and wrapped them around his hips. He held her tightly, pressing her against his chest as he sat down on the bed. He nuzzled her cheek with his own as he began to speak. “Anya...love of my life...you will never know exactly how much I cherish you. No matter how much you think it is, it will always be more. You mean everything to me. I love you more than life itself, and I...I’m so scared of losing you to someone younger,” he confessed, frowning as the beginnings of tears came to his eyes.

“As long as you’ll have me, I’ll be yours.” She smiled at him and pressed a kiss to his cheek, before unwrapping her left arm from his neck and showing off the ring on her finger. “I said yes for a reason, Siebren. I never want anyone but you.” She put her arm back around him. “You’ve shown me love, and patience, and—and  _ compassion  _ like no one else before ever has. You take me as I am, you have never tried to change me, to mold me into a different person. I want you to know that...as long as I’m alive, I will love you. As long as you’ll have me, as long as you’ll take me, as long as you’ll love me...I’ll be yours.”

He successfully restrained himself from bursting into tears, but a single tear lazily dripped out of his eye and snaked down his cheek. “What have I done to deserve someone as wonderful as you?”

“After everything you’ve been through, I think you deserve this and more. You deserve the world and everything in it.”

“Stop, I’m an old man, my heart can’t take this much emotion,” he said, cracking a smile, only mostly joking.

She kissed his cheek again before resting her head against his shoulder. “I love you, Siebren.”

He began to rub her back with one hand. “Oh, Anya, I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW I am SO SORRY this took so long for me to post!! The original version of this chapter was, imo, terrible, so I had to completely rewrite it from scratch. This shouldn't have taken me as long as it did, but if any of y'all are artsy types you know how fleeting motivation can be. v_v
> 
> In other news, please follow me at princessvyxen on twitter for updates, behind the scenes, fun facts, a lot of retweets of Sigma art/porn, and more!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: surgical procedure performed without consent

One morning, a knock came at Anya’s office door.

“Come in,” she called out, looking up from her computer screen.

Sana, the CEO’s strange secretary, opened the door. “Good morning, Miss Anderson. Your presence has been requested in Mr. Roberts’ office.”

It had been months since she’d heard directly from him. Her heart sank - what did he want from her now? “Oh...okay,” she replied, standing up and following Sana to the top floor.

Sana pushed open the door to the office, showing Anya in. Immediately she noticed that Dr. O’Deorain was in the room - whatever this was, it was clearly important.

“I have returned with Miss Anderson,” Sana announced, pulling Anya out of her thoughts.

“Thank you, Sana. You are dismissed,” James said from his desk.

Once the door was tightly shut, he began to speak again. “Anya! It’s been quite some time. How have you been?”

“Quite well, thank you,” she responded. For once, it wasn’t a lie - since her engagement, her mood had been steadily improving.

“Oh, that’s good. Well, I suppose we should get down to business. Moira, why don’t you explain?”

“Sure,” she said, smiling a wicked smile that Anya did _ not _ like the look of. “I’m just going to cut to the chase. Anya, you’ve been chosen for an experiment.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been chosen for this because you’re unenhanced. You have no cybernetics. Is that correct?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Perfect,” Moira replied, her smile only growing. “We have a prototype cybernetic eye that we want to test, and we think you would be the perfect subject.”

“Eye?” Anya repeated, alarmed.

“Yes, eye. We’re going to replace one of your eyes with our prototype.”

“No, thank you. I would prefer to keep both of my natural eyes.”

Moira frowned. “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t asking permission. I was merely warning you. You’re going to be taken to the nearby Talon research facility, where the operation will take place.”

Anya’s eyes went wide. “No...no! You can’t do that!”

“I’m afraid I can. Talon owns you, Anya. Remember that contract you signed? You gave away more than you’d like to think you did. The matter has been discussed with my colleagues, who all agreed you’re a perfect candidate.”

Despair mixed with the blood flowing through her veins. What happened to the Moira she knew? The one who, at the ball, risked her own safety in order to protect her from further harm? “This isn’t like you...at the ball, you saved me...you’re not—you’re not a monster…”

“No, I’m not. I’m a scientist. And sometimes, scientists need to experiment. You’re the perfect subject, Anya. My earlier actions have nothing to do with this.”

She looked towards James for help. “I’m sorry, Anya. My hands are tied. This is far above my head,” he said.

“Please, don’t do this! I don’t want this!”

“Frankly, my dear, it doesn’t matter what you want anymore. I could have just had you escorted from your office straight to the facility without even warning you, but instead I chose to fill you in. You should be grateful.” She looked towards the door. “Grab her.”

Two unarmed guards surged forward and took Anya by the arms. She tried to pull away, but they were too strong. “No! Stop this!” She cried, desperately trying to get the doctor to change her mind. “Please! I’ll do anything, just don’t hurt me!”

“Oh, Anya, you won’t feel a thing,” Moira answered, almost sing-song. She stood up and walked over to Anya. “I’d never _ want _ to hurt you. Siebren would have my head on a platter. The doctors will put you under, and when you wake up, you’ll have a brand new eye. It’s that simple. Don’t get yourself all worked up over it. There’s nothing you can do about it anyway,” she said, as one hand reached up and gently caressed Anya’s cheek, watching as the young lady’s eyes filled with tears. Moira looked up at the guards. “Take her away.”

Still, Anya struggled against the guards’ grip. “Please, stop…” She cried, but her pleading fell on deaf ears.

She was once again forced into a black van, which transported her to the Talon research facility the next city over. There, she was dragged out of the van and into the building. She struggled the whole time, begging them to stop, to let her go. But she was dragged into an exam room and forced to sit on the examination table.

It seemed like an eternity before a doctor entered the room, a surgical mask covering his nose and mouth. “Miss Anya Anderson, I presume,” he said, double-checking the chart on the screen he held.

“Please, don’t do this to me, I’m begging you, please!”

Ignoring her, the doctor shined a bright blue light into her left eye, then her right, scanning them. “Hm, interesting, there’s an abnormality in the left…” he noted aloud.

“Why are you doing this to me?” She cried, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Again, the doctor did not respond as he made a note in her file.

“Please let me go! I’ll do anything you want, just don’t do this to me!”

The doctor looked her in the eyes, finally acknowledging her pleading. “It would be in your best interest if you complied, Miss Anderson,” he said, cold and annoyed.

It was then that she realized it: _ nobody was going to help her. _ The only person who could help her was still at the Lucentra building, blissfully unaware of his fiancee’s peril.

It finally broke her will to fight.

The doctor noticed the change in her expression and smiled beneath his mask. He scanned both of her eyes again. “You should be wearing glasses with this kind of abnormality. But don’t worry, we’ll fix it for you.” He finished making notes in her file, and gestured towards the door. “Come with me, Anya. Your preparation room awaits.”

She hopped down off the exam table and obediently followed, flanked by the guards. She was led into a room with a wheeled bed and a nurse holding something.

“Go ahead and get changed,” the doctor said, and the nurse held out the small bundle she held - a hospital gown.

Trembling uncontrollably, Anya stripped down to her panties, no longer caring who was watching, and put on the hospital gown, handing her clothing to the nurse.

“You also need to remove any jewelry,” the nurse said helpfully, eyeing Anya’s left hand.

“What? No, this—this is special, I can’t…I didn’t even get to say goodbye to him!”

“It will be safe and sound with the rest of your items, I promise,” the nurse said.

Reluctantly, Anya removed the ring from her finger, handing it to the nurse.

“I’ll just put these in the cabinet for now. I’ll have them brought to your recovery room later,” she said sweetly as she turned and opened one of the cabinet doors, loading Anya’s things inside.

“Lie down on the bed,” the doctor ordered, and Anya obeyed. He came in close and produced a marker out of his pocket. Using it, he drew an arrow above her left eye. “There.”

The nurse picked up some equipment off the counter and checked Anya’s vital signs, making a note of them in her chart. “I’m finished, doctor,” she said, turning to face the doctor.

“Good. It’s time.”

Anya sighed as she was wheeled out of the back of the room and into an operating theater. A waiting anesthesiologist began to work on her, and finally, she closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, the first things she noticed were a headache and a display over the left side of her vision. “What...what am I seeing? Why am I seeing things?!” She asked aloud, panicked, sitting up.

“Shhh, don’t worry,” a voice came from nearby. Anya’s head jerked towards the source.

Moira.

“It’s your heads-up display,” Moira continued. “You have access to all kinds of information now.” She stood up and produced a small flashlight and a black plastic paddle out of one pocket. She held the paddle up to Anya’s right eye, blocking it. “Follow the light,” she said simply, before moving the light around, this way and that.

Anya obeyed, following the light with her new eye. One thing that struck her was the lack of pain at having such a bright light shined into her eye. She noticed the surroundings were much darker, though - as one would expect of a camera.

“Okay, good. Tell me, how many lumens is this light?” She asked, taking the paddle away from Anya’s right eye.

“What? How should I know?”

“It should be in the bottom left corner.”

“Oh.” She paused, taking in the information on her HUD. “One hundred.”

“Perfect,” Moira said with a smile. “What about my threat level?”

“Low.”

“Low? Is this thing broken?” Moira wondered aloud. “I thought I was more than a low.”

“It says low,” Anya repeated.

“Hm. May need calibration. Interesting.” She held the paddle in front of Anya’s left eye, testing the vision in her right, making sure it hadn’t been harmed. If it had been, Siebren would kill her. She wasn’t entirely sure he wouldn’t kill her anyway, but it was a risk that needed to be taken.

She put away the paddle and flashlight before pointing at an eye chart on the wall. “Read that for me.”

Anya read off the first few lines.

“The whole thing, please.”

“I can’t see the bottom few lines.”

“Zoom in on them.”

It took her a few moments of fiddling, but she figured out how to zoom with her camera eye. She read off the last few lines of the chart.

“Perfect!” Moira exclaimed happily.

“I...don’t feel well,” Anya complained, laying back down.

“Of course you don’t. You’ve had your brain poked and prodded at. Do you think you can manage getting dressed?”

“I don’t know…”

“Won’t know until you try, then,” she responded, starting to look through the cabinets in the room. “I know your stuff is in here somewhere - ah! Here it is.” She took it out and laid it on the counter. “Come on and give it a shot. You probably want to go home, yes?”

Anya nodded, tears building in both eyes.

“Oh, good, you can still cry. I’d been afraid—” Moira cut herself off, starting to panic, reaching for a tissue from the box on the counter. “Oh God, no, _ please _don’t cry, if Siebren sees you’ve been crying he’ll think we hurt you, and I don’t want to be on the receiving end of that kind of wrath.”

_ Should have thought of that _ before _ replacing my eye, _Anya thought.

Nevertheless, she took a deep breath, accepting the tissue from Moira and using it to dab at her eyes. She noticed her left was sore. “Ow, ow ow…”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“It hurts to touch the left one…” She whined, tears beginning to spill.

Moira bit her lip and glanced at the door. There was a non-zero chance that Siebren would get fed up with waiting and storm the place looking for Anya. “Um, yes, well, you _ have _ had an operation in the area, so some soreness is to be expected. You can ice it when you get home. Please don’t cry, come on, let’s get you dressed so we can get you out of here.”

She didn’t want to get dressed. She didn’t even want to move. She felt rather like she’d been hit by a truck, and Moira was not helping things. She started to cry in earnest, little hiccupping sobs escaping her.

Moira sighed. She was going to get it, and get it good. “Don’t you want to see Siebren?” She tried, knowing that was probably the one thing Anya wanted - well, the one thing she could give her, anyway.

Anya nodded, rubbing at her normal eye.

“Then let’s get you dressed, okay? He’s waiting in the reception area.”

Anya finally acquiesced, nodding and standing up. She felt a bit on the dizzy side, almost falling over, and Moira shot out of her chair to steady her. “Easy now, be careful.” She guided her over to the counter where her things were laid out.

The first thing Anya looked for was her ring. Finding it quickly, she breathed a shaky sigh of relief and slid it onto her finger, where it belonged.

Next, the hospital gown came off, and slowly but surely, with Moira’s help, her clothing was put back on.

“Okay, good. Sit back down, I’ll be right back.”

Anya obeyed, sitting down on the bed. She put her head in her hands and tried not to cry. She failed.

Moments later, Moira returned with a wheelchair. “Come now. If Siebren has to wait any longer I fear for the safety of the building and everyone in it.”

Anya got up and took shaky, unsteady steps towards the wheelchair before slowly turning around and sitting down in it. Without a word, Moira wheeled her away.

In reception, Siebren sat with his head in his hands, overcome with worry. How could he have let this happen to her? He tried to think of something, anything, he could have done to prevent it, but came up short. There was nothing, and he was sure it had been planned that way.

Seeing motion out of the corner of his eye, he whipped his head towards it. Moira was pushing Anya in a wheelchair.

He launched himself out of his chair and ran towards them, stopping just in front of Anya. He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her. She didn’t move except to lay her head against his shoulder. “Oh, schatje…” he said, pulling away and putting one hand on her cheek, running the other through her messy hair, brushing it out of her face.

With a stab of grief, he noticed her left eye now had a gray, aperture-like iris.

They hadn’t even bothered to make it look normal.

“What have they done to you?” He wondered aloud, holding back tears. He couldn’t cry in front of her. He had to be strong.

He stood up and looked Moira in the eyes. “What is wrong with you? How could you do this?”

“Technically, I didn’t do anything, it was Dr. Co—”

“Shut your damn mouth,” he ordered harshly. “You know full well what I mean. How could you do this to her? I thought you were our friend!”

“And I thought you would understand how important this is. You’re a scientist too, you _ know _ the importance of experimentation—”

“But _ human _ experimentation? Without consent?! That’s taking it too far!” He exclaimed. “I...I should kill you. You deserve to die for what you’ve done,” he snarled, stepping around the wheelchair and closing the gap between himself and Moira.

“H-Hey, wait now, if you kill me you’ll kill the only person who has the instructions to that eye. If she runs into trouble with it, I’m the only person who can solve it. Do you want her to be without an eye?”

He sighed. He didn’t want that. “Fine, I won’t snap your neck like a twig. But your legs? Fair game.” He inched closer to her, and she started to panic.

“No no, please no…” She started to back away. “Anya, please call him off, don’t—don’t let him hurt me!”

Anya did not respond.

“At least let me give you her care instructions!”

Siebren stopped in his tracks.

“Hand them over.”

Trembling, Moira pulled a folder out of her jacket, holding it out to him like a piece of meat offered to a raging predator. “Please, take it and go. She needs rest.”

He took the folder, and Moira began to float.

“No, what are you doing? Put me down! Stop!”

She began to fold in on herself, gravity crushing her into a ball. “No—please—” she croaked out, the air being squeezed out of her lungs.

“You’ll never learn, Moira. Some things are more valuable than others, and today, you’ve taken something from us that can never be returned. You listen to me, and you listen well: one day, you will reap what you have sown.”

He stopped just short of snapping her bones, and she dropped to the floor, gasping for breath.

He turned towards Anya, taking the wheelchair by its handles and pushing her forward. “Come on, liefste. Let’s go home.”


	20. Chapter 20

Safe at home once again, Siebren guided still-dizzy Anya up the stairs and into the bedroom. “Let’s get you changed and comfortable,” he suggested quietly, placing the folder he still held on his nightstand.

“Mmhm,” she replied, reluctant to move her head enough to nod. Things hurt, and she didn’t feel much like disturbing them.

So he helped her out of her clothes and into her pajamas, and she carefully climbed into bed, resting her throbbing head.

Siebren sat down next to her, picking the folder back up and opening it to read her care instructions. He had to bite back a bitter laugh - the first page was a generic letter congratulating the reader on their new cybernetic prosthetic. He didn’t bother reading past the first sentence. The  _ second _ page turned out to be what he was after. He read it carefully, despite most of it being common sense - things like “don’t rub your eye,” “use eye drops if it feels dry,” and “take an over-the-counter pain medication if it hurts.” Still, he passed it to Anya after he had finished with it. “Here, read this. It’s how to care for your…” He paused. He didn’t want to finish that sentence.

Anya didn’t wait for him to finish it, understanding what he meant. “My head hurts,” she complained. She took the paper, but merely glanced at it before placing it in her lap.

“I’m sorry, lieve schat. I’ll go get you something for it, okay?” He asked, already getting up, knowing what the answer would be.

“Okay.” As he left, she pulled the covers up to her chin, trying to make herself as warm and comfortable as possible.

He returned quickly, presenting her with two pills and a glass of water. “Alright, sit up—carefully,” he instructed her gently, and she slowly sat up before taking the items held out to her. She popped the pills into her mouth and swallowed them with some water before placing the half-emptied glass onto her nightstand and laying back down.

He knelt down beside her and swept some hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. She looked up at him with plaintive eyes, tears building in them yet again. He felt another stab of grief, knowing that he could never fix this, that he could never take away the pain she felt. “Oh, mijn schat, I am so sorry…” he whispered, voice catching on the lump in his throat. “I won’t let them get away with this.”

“But...what will you do?” She asked, knowing how powerless they both were within Talon.

“I...I don’t know yet,” he admitted, softly rubbing the backs of two fingers over her cheek, “but I promise you that I will make them pay for what they’ve done to you.”

“Okay,” she replied quietly, not knowing what else to say. She yawned and curled up on her side, her eyes half-lidded.

“You look tired...you should rest,” he suggested. “Will you be alright if I leave you alone? I’ll just be down the hall in the study. I’ll leave the door open so you can call for me if you need anything, anything at all, okay?”

Truth be told, she didn’t want to be left alone, but a nap did sound good, and he could hardly just sit and watch her sleep. “Yeah, I’ll be okay.”

He gave a small smile. “Alright. Sleep well, mijn kleine.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead before standing up and walking out.

She closed her eyes, her left eye’s HUD turning off with an “offline” notification...over the Talon logo. As if she needed yet another reminder. 

It was then that she realized:  _ things could not go on like this. _

Tears began to well up behind her eyelids, and her hands balled up into tight fists. The  _ injustice _ of it all was maddening; she felt useless, helpless, and weak. That was what Talon wanted, wasn’t it? They wanted to wear her down, mold her in their image.

Now too upset to sleep, she sighed and rolled onto her back, opening her eyes. Her HUD came back up, greeting her with another Talon logo and the word “online.”

Her upper lip twitched. She wasn’t going to take this lying down. There had to be  _ something _ that could be done.

But what?

Carefully, she sat up and reached down next to her, opening the drawer to her nightstand and pulling out her laptop. She opened it and powered it on, immediately beginning to search the internet for information about Talon, everything and anything she could find that would yield a weakness, a hole in their defenses. A hole big enough for two people to slip through.

Eventually, her head started to pound again, but she ignored it, pressing on. She was getting into earlier and earlier news articles as she started to feel faint - a red notification began flashing in the corner of her HUD, warning her of her weak state. She ignored that too. “Is there any way to turn that  _ off?” _ She wondered aloud, annoyed.

_ Oh, to hell with it, _ she thought, continuing to ignore it to the best of her ability as she clicked on yet another article, this one speaking of the fight against Talon by a then-illustrious organization.

Overwatch.

Overwatch had done so much good for the whole world while they were still active, but now, they were disgraced and in hiding, the members having scattered to the four winds. But as she read on, she realized that they might be her only hope.

The article linked to a public-facing website belonging to Overwatch, and even though she thought there was no way it would still be up, she clicked on it anyway.

To her amazement, it was still active.

Exploring the website, she found what used to be an open channel, used by the public to submit information. It was empty now, but it was still available to connect to. So she thought...why not give that a try as well?

The empty channel greeted her with an automated message, which she skimmed but ultimately ignored.

Here, she could release her cry for help. She began to type, slowly - her head felt like it was spinning, and she didn’t want to make any mistakes.

“To whomever may be out there:

My name is Anya Anderson, and I need your help. I am trapped working for Talon, along with my fiance, Dr. Siebren de Kuiper. I’ve tried once to escape in the past, and they tortured him in front of me until I gave in to their demands. Today, they have replaced one of my eyes with a prototype cybernetic one against my will.

We have insider information on Talon that may be of use to you, if that helps at all. I’m attaching the global coordinates of our house to this message. We are powerless to stop them and I fear for our safety if someone does not intervene. Please, Overwatch, save us.

Respectfully,

Anya Anderson”

Too dizzy to reread her message, she decided to throw caution to the wind and just click “Send.” A notification appeared that her message sent successfully, and she stared at the screen, waiting for a response of some kind, any response at all that would indicate the presence of someone watching the channel.

She lasted about five minutes before the pain in her head became too much.

She shut the computer down and put it away, laying back down. Maybe now she could sleep, she thought, closing her eyes.

“Anya? Schatje, wake up, are you alright?”

She half-opened her eyes and turned her head towards the source of the voice. The clock on her HUD indicated it’d been two hours since she’d fallen asleep. “Mmf...hi, Siebren…”

He let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, I was so worried, you’d been asleep for  _ hours _ and I thought something might have happened to you.”

“I wasn’t asleep the whole time,” she confessed with a yawn. “I was too upset to sleep at first, so I was on the computer, and—”

_ “Anya,” _ he scolded her, “really? In  _ your  _ condition?”

She frowned. “But I was trying to—”

Thinking she was going to own up to trying to have fun, he cut her off. “It doesn’t matter, what’s done is done. Just so you know, overtaxing the implant in your brain can have serious consequences. I don’t know what damage you might have already done, but just in case, I want you to stay off the computer for at  _ least _ the next day or so. Just rest, liefste. You deserve it, after what you’ve been through,” he said, his voice softening at the end.

“Yeah...alright,” she muttered, giving in.

“Are you still in pain?” He asked, concerned. He gently ran his hand across her head, petting her.

“A little bit,” she admitted in a groan. There was a distinct but dull throb behind her eye, inside her skull.

“Do you think you need more painkillers?”

“No, I just...need to rest.”

“Okay.” There was a pause; he continued to pet her head, trying to comfort her. “May I lie down with you?”

“Please do,” she replied, suddenly yearning to be held.

He crossed over to the other side of the bed and got in next to her, arms sliding into position around her and pulling her tight against his chest. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against him.

“Everything’s going to be alright,” he said soothingly. “I’ll make sure of it.”


	21. Chapter 21

A few weeks passed by, and the pain in Anya’s head had slowly subsided, but the pain in her heart had not. It simply grew duller as she dragged herself through her days. Siebren was careful to dote on her more than usual, trying to bring her spirits back up, but it seemed fairly futile as her mood refused to improve.

One evening, they sat on the couch together watching TV, Anya still trying to learn how to ignore her HUD when they heard it.

_ Knock-knock-knock-knock. _

Perplexed and on high alert - who could possibly be visiting them? - Siebren stood up. “Stay here, schatje. I’ll take care of this.”

He headed for the front door and slowly opened it. A man in a very nice, probably very expensive suit stood before him with a slight smile on.

“Can I help you?” Siebren asked, ready to attack if need be.

“Yes, is this the home of Dr. Siebren de Kuiper and Ms. Anya Anderson?”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “It is. Why?”

“I need to speak with both of you.”

“Who are you?”

The man paused, though his slight smile didn’t disappear. “You can call me Max. It’s very important that I speak with you both as soon as possible.”

He thought for a moment, weighing his options before turning back into the house and calling out. “Anya, come here.”

Confused and hesitant, she got up off the couch and headed to the door. “Yes?”

“Do you know this man? He says his name is Max.”

She shook her head.

The man’s smile still didn’t fade as he pulled a tablet out of his jacket, holding it out to Anya. “Miss, I believe you sent us this.”

She stepped forward and took the tablet, reading the screen.

It was the message she’d sent in the Overwatch channel.

“Siebren, this is very important,” she said quickly, handing the tablet back to Max. “Let him in. He’s here to help.”

It was Siebren’s turn to be confused. “What are you talking about?”

She ignored him and turned to Max. “Please, come inside,” she said, gesturing inwards.

“No. Not until I get some kind of explanation. What is going on here?” Siebren asked, an edge of anger in his voice.

“I already told you, he’s here to help us.”

“What was on that tablet? Let me see it.”

Without a word, Max held out the tablet to him. He took it rather roughly and read its contents, his eyes going wide. He shoved the tablet back into Max’s hands and turned towards Anya. “You contacted  _ Overwatch?” _ He growled at her. “I told you I would take care of things! I told you—”

“Yeah, but what would you  _ do?” _ She yelled back, tears forming in her eyes. “You can’t touch them! When I tried to quit they tortured you, and you couldn’t stop them! What would you do  _ now?!” _

“I...I’ve been trying to figure it out! I told you I’d make them pay, and I intend on doing so!”

“With Overwatch on our side, you can! But alone? You can’t do  _ anything. _ You’re powerless to harm them!” Her breath started to turn ragged as she tried not to start crying. “Please, just hear him out. This could be what you—what  _ we _ —need.”

“Oh,  _ fine!”  _ He turned towards Max. “Come in,” he said, rather begrudgingly.

“Thank you,” Max replied rather nonchalantly, stepping inside the house.

He was led into the living room, where Siebren crossed his arms. “Now. Tell me what you want with us.”

“As you have already figured out, I’m a representative of Overwatch. We have determined that you are both in  _ grave _ danger while in Talon’s hands, so I’m here today to bring you to safety. You will both make great additions to our team, especially with your insider knowledge of Talon.”

“So you want us to come with you. Is that right?” Siebren asked, arms still crossed.

“Indeed. You are each allowed one suitcase of personal belongings - however, electronic devices are strictly forbidden. Please, quickly gather your things. We’re going to leave as soon as you are ready.”

Anya’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why are electronic devices forbidden, exactly?”

“Talon can track you with them. Anything that powers on can be bugged. We can’t assume any of your devices are safe, so they’ll have to remain here.”

Anya hesitated, but ultimately nodded her head. “I understand. Alright, let’s—”

“No, not alright,” Siebren replied sharply. “We’re just going to leave? Abandon the house and everything in it?”

“You won’t be gone forever,” Max helpfully replied. “It will be a while before you can return here, though, because otherwise Talon will know exactly where to find you.”

“I don’t like this. This—this is my  _ home,  _ and you’re asking me to abandon it?”

Anya spoke up. “Siebren, please. This is our only chance to escape Talon. I’m going with. I won’t be their plaything one minute longer. Please, come with me. With us.”

“No. I won’t. This is my home, and I’m staying here. I will find my own way out of Talon.”

Anya sighed, beginning to cry. Slowly, she raised her left hand and slid the engagement ring off of her finger, holding it out to Siebren. “W-Would you like this back, then, or should I keep it?”

His expression softened, staring at the ring held out to him. “I—no—don’t—” He stuttered, before sighing. The last thing he wanted was for her to be gone. If she left without him, he would never know if she was safe or not. He might never see her again, and this wasn’t how he wanted that to go. “Please, put that back on…” He said softly. “I’ll come with you.” He didn’t have much of a choice anyway - if he showed up at Lucentra without her, he would be in massive trouble.

“But I-I don’t want to force you to—”

“I’m coming with you. I’m not leaving you alone, ever again. I’m not going to let you go, not like this.” He took the ring from her hand and slid it back onto her left ring finger. “That belongs there. Now...let’s go pack.”

“A-Are you sure?” She asked with a sniffle.

He reached up and gently wiped the tears from beneath her eyes with his thumb. “I’m sure. I’m not letting you go anywhere I can’t follow. You’re...you’re far too precious to me.”

She gave a weak smile. “Okay. Let’s go.”

He turned to Max for just a moment. “Give us fifteen minutes.” Turning back to Anya, he held out his hand; she took it, and they walked away together.

Upstairs, faced with an empty suitcase, Anya realized exactly how much of a challenge this was going to be. How could she pack up her entire life into one suitcase? She stared into the empty bag lying on the bed, suddenly frozen by anxiety.

Siebren looked over at her and paused what he was doing, several pieces of clothing still floating in orbit around him. “Lieve schat, are you alright?”

“I don’t...I can’t...there’s too much!” She exclaimed, tears springing to her eyes.

“Take a deep breath and focus. Start with necessities and work from there. Do you need help?”

Obediently, she took a deep breath and tried to center herself. The first thing that popped into her head when she thought of necessities was the bathroom - hairbrush, toothbrush, et cetera. Accidentally ignoring his question, she rushed into the adjoining bathroom to grab it all. She came back out with full hands, unceremoniously dumping the load into her suitcase.

Next was clothes. Picking what she should bring and what she should leave behind felt, in her opinion, how a mother would feel when asked to choose a favorite child.

After that, she grabbed her wallet - containing her ID card, bank card, and some cash - out of her purse and threw it in. Her passport was next - better safe than sorry, she figured.

Finally, her favorite stuffed animal had to come with. She couldn’t leave Teddy alone, and besides, she figured she’d need all the comfort she could get. Some might say she was too old for teddy bears, but those people would suffer the wrath of Anya.

“I think I got everything,” Anya announced, slightly out of breath, as Siebren floated back into the room, having been in the study. Books floated around him, and as he approached his suitcase, they neatly arranged themselves inside. “What about you?”

“Yes, I think that’s it,” he replied, zipping up his suitcase. “Well...shall we be off?” He asked, a somber tone to his voice.

“Yeah, let’s—” She started, but cut herself off as she realized something.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“I need to...make a phone call first.”

She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her contacts for a moment before tapping one and holding the phone to her ear.

A woman answered on the other end. “Hello?”

Anya smiled - she was very glad to get an answer. “Hi, mom.”

“Oh, my Anya! How are you? You don’t sound too happy, is everything alright?”

“Well...no. In short, it isn’t,” she explained. “I...I called because...I need to go away for a while.”

“What?!” Came the response. “What happened? What’s the matter?”

“I can’t tell you. Not yet. I’ll explain everything to you once this is all over, but for now, I don’t have much time. I don’t know when I’ll be able to talk to you again, I can’t bring my phone with me. They can track me with it. So—”

“They? Who’s they?! Anya, explain this to me right now, I-I’m scared to  _ death _ over here!”

Anya sighed. “I’m sorry, mom, but I don’t have time. I have to go. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to a safe place and that I’ll contact you again as soon as I’m able. I love you.”

“Anya, wait! Don’t go!”

“I have to. It’s now or never. Do you want me to be safe or not?”

The question gave the woman pause. “I...of course I do.”

“Then please, let me go. It’s the only way.”

The woman’s voice began to crack. “You had better explain yourself to me as soon as possible.”

“I will, mom. I promise. I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

“Goodbye. For now.”

Tears in her eyes, Anya hung up the call and turned off her phone, leaving it on her nightstand.

Siebren put a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be alright, schatje. Are you ready?”

“Yes. Are you?”

“One moment.” He slipped his own phone out of his pocket and turned it off, placing it on his nightstand. “Alright. Let’s go.”

They picked up their bags and headed downstairs, where Max still stood, leaning against a wall. “Welcome back. Are you ready to leave?”

Siebren took it upon himself to answer for both of them. “We are.”

“Good. Let’s not waste time,” Max replied, before turning and walking towards the front door.

The couple followed, and Siebren grabbed his keys off the hook near the door. He was the last out of the house, and he made sure he locked the door behind him.

They loaded their suitcases into the trunk of the car, and Siebren turned around to look up at the house one last time. A sad smile found its way onto his face - he had so many good memories in that house, and it hurt to leave it all behind...but he knew he was doing this for a good reason.

A driver already sat in the car, and Max got into the front passenger seat as Siebren and Anya entered the back. It was a bit of a tight fit for Siebren, who suddenly came up with a question. “You probably can’t tell me where we’re going, but...can you at least tell me how  _ long _ it will take?”

“Not more than a couple of hours,” answered Max.

“Oh...alright. Thank you.” Well, at least he wouldn’t have to be scrunched up in the back seat for a cross-country journey.

Seatbelts on, the car pulled out of the driveway, and Anya reached for Siebren’s hand. He took hold of her hand and noted that she was trembling. “Are you alright?”

“Scared. Very scared,” she replied, wishing she could lean against him.

He rubbed her hand with his thumb. “Don’t be scared, my love. I’m sure everything will be just fine.”


	22. Chapter 22

Anya sighed, staring out the car’s window, still holding onto Siebren’s hand, simply watching the world go by. According to her HUD clock, it had been twenty-three minutes since they’d left, and she was desperate for something to  _ do. _ She wished she could have brought her phone; at least she’d have been able to keep her thoughts off her current situation. Her mind was practically in overdrive. She ran a hand over her face with a grumble.

“Everything alright, mijn schat?” Siebren asked.

“Can’t stop thinking. Brain won’t stop. Just...keeps going. Asking questions. Did I forget anything? Where are we going? Will I be safe? Will I be happy? It doesn’t stop,” Anya replied, exasperated with herself.

He sighed softly and gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Can you distract me somehow?”

He thought for a moment. “I suppose I could tell you a story or two. Did I ever tell you about the time I…”

Miles away, in the basement of a certain office building, an alarm sounded. A worker looked up at the gigantic screen on the wall, showing the locations of several blinking dots. One dot in particular had crossed out of its allowed territory, causing said dot to be highlighted with a red circle and an exclamation point.

“Uh-oh.” The worker reached for the phone, dialing a number.

“This had better be important,” the cold voice on the other side answered.

“Dr. O’Deorain, the Anderson beacon left the area.”

“What? Really? The  _ Anderson _ beacon?” She responded, incredulous.

“It’s eastbound at about 65 miles an hour.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Dispatch a troop immediately!”

“Y-Yes, doctor!” Without hanging up, the worker entered a few commands into the touchscreen in front of them. “Should I authorize lethal force?”

“No. I want them back  _ alive. _ Injured, fine. But  _ alive.” _

They entered a couple more commands. “There. Three vans are about to be headed that way.”

“Good. Anderson herself may be useless, but there’s no way in  _ hell  _ de Kuiper left her alone, and he’s  _ dangerous,”  _ she said, recalling the incident at the research center.

“Understood. Should I dispatch more vans?”

“No. If you start losing their signals, start sending in armored vehicles.”

“Understood.”

There was a click on the line as Moira hung up, and the worker placed the phone back on its base before looking back up at the screen. Three Talon logos in a neat line were headed towards the highlighted dot.

About half an hour later, Siebren had run out of stories to tell. He’d succeeded in distracting Anya from her swirling thoughts for a while, but he could tell he was losing her to the vortex as she turned and stared out the window again.

“Oh my God…” Anya suddenly said, shrinking back from the window. “They’re gonna hit us!”

Max turned and looked, and what he saw caused him to jump slightly - a black van drove along, mere inches from the side of the car.

The driver, who had been silent up until this point, decided to reply. “Not on my watch.” They sped up, trying to outrun their aggressor.

Anya began to panic as the speed readout on her HUD began to climb. 70, 75, 80 miles per hour. A strangled whining noise came out of her, and she rested her forehead against the back of the passenger seat. Siebren let go of her hand to rub her back.

Unfortunately, the van on the side sped up as well, inching closer and closer to the car. “Shit,” the driver hissed. There was only one lane left before the guardrail. The van’s intent became clear - they were trying to drive the car off the road.

Just as the driver thought of another way out, another van pulled up behind them, blocking them in. “Well, there goes plan B,” the driver grumbled.

“Why, what was plan B?” Max asked.

“Jam on the brakes. Someone just pulled up behind us.”

“What now, then?”

“Continue with plan A. No way out but forward.”

The gas pedal was on the floor as the car quickly accelerated. 85, 90, 100 miles per hour. Anya squeezed her eyes shut, forcing her HUD offline - she didn’t want to see it anymore.

The car was finally forced into the last available lane, the van behind them following. “Shit, shit…!”

Siebren finally turned to look out the car’s back window. A black van tailed them extremely closely, so close that Siebren could see the driver - and the red, full-face mask they wore.

“It’s Talon. They found us,” he announced, somber and dark.

“What? How?” Max snapped. “You didn’t bring your  _ cell phones, _ did you?”

“No!”

“Nothing electronic at all? Not even a photo frame?”

“Nothing at all, or may God strike me down where I sit!”

There was a pause as Max seriously waited to witness divine intervention. “Well, if the only electronic thing between you two is Anya’s eye, then how di—” He cut himself off, eyes going wide. “Anya’s eye,” he repeated, quietly.

Alarmed, Anya spoke up, sitting up and opening her eyes. “What? What about my eye?”

Max ignored her and turned to the driver. “Change course to the Overwatch medical research facility.”

“I’m a little busy trying not to get us all killed here!”

He gave a harsh sigh and crossed his arms. “I understand that, but I figured you might want to be kept updated on our  _ travel plans!” _

“What’s wrong with my eye?” Anya tried again.

Finally, Max deemed it appropriate to answer. “It’s an electronic device and it’s from Talon. I’m sure you can figure out—”

Siebren’s eyes widened and he turned towards her. “...There’s a tracking chip in your eye.”

The car was silent as Anya’s blood ran cold. She wrapped her arms around herself and bent over as she started to cry.

Siebren’s mind worked quickly to try to figure out how to free themselves from their current predicament. Then, an idea came to mind. “I’m going to try something to get them off of us. Brace yourselves in case of impact.”

This alarmed Max.  _ “Impact? _ What are you—?!”

He was cut off by the sound of metal striking asphalt as the van on the side lifted into the air before violently slamming down. He let out a scream, taken completely off-guard by the sudden...disposal. The van behind them flipped over backwards, smashing into a previously-unseen third black van.

In the Lucentra basement, the worker sighed as the three Talon logos on the map blinked out of existence, one by one. They picked up the phone again, dialing the same number.

“What is it now?”

“The three vans have been destroyed. Authorize lethal force?”

“Absolutely not! Dispatch armored vehicles and let them deal with it!”

“Understood.”

There was a click as Moira hung up. The worker placed the phone back down and entered commands into their touchscreen.

Back in the car, Max whipped around to face Siebren. “What did you do?!” He demanded.  _ “What _ on  _ Earth _ did you  _ do?!” _

Siebren sighed. “It’s a...long story, but I have control over gravity, so I used it to destroy the Talon vehicles.”

The car began to slow down and the driver let out a long sigh of relief.

“I don’t doubt that they’re going to send more units. In fact, I’d be surprised if they didn’t. How far to the medical facility?” Siebren asked.

“At a normal rate of speed, another half-hour.”

“How soon can she get into surgery?”

“Let me make a phone call.” Max pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, initiating a call.

A voice on the other end answered. “Hello, Maxwell. What can I do for you?”

“Well, doctor, long story short, I have a Talon escapee who has a tracking chip embedded somewhere in her cybernetic eye. We need it removed ASAP.”

The doctor whistled, from high to low. “Well, that’s unfortunate. The good news is, we can do that.”

“We’ll be arriving in about half an hour. How soon can we get her into surgery? I’ll remind you this is a Talon tracking device we’re talking about.”

“I’m clearing my schedule as we speak.”

“Good. Thank you. See you soon.”

Max hung up the call and stuffed his phone back into the pocket it came out of.

“I’m going to lose my eye, aren’t I?” Anya asked quietly.

“Unfortunately, it seems like it,” Max answered.


	23. Chapter 23

At the thought of permanently losing her eye, Anya began to cry again, and Siebren leaned over, putting an arm around her. “It’ll all be okay, schatje,” he said, using his other hand to gently brush the tears from her cheeks. He desperately wanted to console her, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

He held onto her as tightly as he could until the car came to a stop outside a nondescript building. Max got out, and Siebren and Anya followed suit. Wordlessly, Max led them into the building, flashing an ID card at the receptionist, who simply nodded and went about her business. He led them into an elevator and pressed the button for the sixth floor.

After getting out, he expertly weaved his way through the halls, up to the door of an office marked with a nameplate:  _ Dr. Jordan Wise. _ Max knocked on the door before letting himself in.

“Ah, Maxwell. Good to see you,” the doctor said from his desk.

“Good to see you too, Dr. Wise. Sadly, there’s no time for chit-chat, Anya’s eye is broadcasting our location to Talon as we speak.”

“I take it that’s her behind you. With her...very large bodyguard?”

“Fiance,” Siebren corrected him.

“Ah. My apologies,” the doctor said. He cleared his throat before continuing. “Well, let’s not waste any more time. Follow me down the hall, there’s an exam room waiting.”

He got up out of his chair and led the way out of the room, to an exam room with some strange-looking equipment in it. “Perfect. Sit down here, Anya,” he said, patting the surface of an exam table.

Anya looked up at Siebren, and he gave a nod. “Go ahead, kleine. I’m right here.”

She hopped up onto the table, sitting with her hands in her lap as the doctor pulled out a penlight and used it to examine her eyes.

“Judging from the  _ aperture _ in the iris, I’d say it was the left one. Am I correct?”

Anya nodded.

“How did you end up like this? I don’t have access to your medical history, or else I’d just look it up myself.”

Her eyes averted towards the floor. “Well...Dr. O’Deorain decided that I was going to be the test subject for an experimental cybernetic eye. So she had them replace my natural eye with...this one.”

The doctor looked horrified. “I’m so sorry that’s happened to you. We’re going to take good care of you, here. I promise,” he said, wheeling over a machine. “Stay still. This machine will scan your head. I want to see how this eye is put together.”

He lowered a headpiece onto her before pressing some buttons on the machine’s screen. Anya concentrated on staying as still as possible.

A scanned image of the inside of Anya’s skull appeared on the screen. “Amazing...this is the most advanced cybernetic eye I’ve ever seen! The brain implant is so  _ small, _ the wiring work is impeccable…”

“Don’t be giving praise to Talon,” Max scolded him.

“Mm. Yes, of course,” the doctor replied flatly. “Well. I have good news and I have bad news. The bad news is, the entire thing - the eye and the implant - must be destroyed. It’s impossible to tell from this scan where the chip is, unfortunately, and exploratory surgery would take far too long; Talon would have operatives knocking down our door partway through. No, it must be removed in its entirety and destroyed.”

“What’s the good news?” Siebren asked for Anya, who was too busy grappling with the idea of losing her eye to speak.

“We can  _ replace _ it. The new one wouldn’t be quite as  _ sophisticated, _ but it’ll function like an eye should - and they come in green; we aren’t monsters.”

Anya’s eyes went wide. “I-I’m not gonna lose my eye?”

“Oh, good heavens, no. I mean, you’re going to lose  _ this one, _ but we’re going to put in a new one. Now, we don’t have time for any more chatter,” he said. “We need to get you into surgery. Come with me.”

So the three of them followed along as he led them back to the elevator, going to a different floor - one that looked much more like a hospital. The doctor led them to a room with a waiting bed and a nurse, not terribly unlike the room from her experience with Talon. The nurse smiled at them, and Anya hesitated.

“Time is of the essence, Anya. That eye needs to come out,” the doctor said.

She only had one thing to say. “I’m scared.”

“That’s understandable, but we  _ really _ need you to cooperate. Unless you want Talon showing up and wrecking this facility and possibly murdering all of us, I suggest you push through it and do as instructed.”

She turned around and looked up at Siebren. He bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Please, Anya. Let them do what they need to.”

Tears forming in her eyes, she lifted her left hand and slid the ring off of her finger, holding it out to Siebren, whose immediate confused, hurt expression broke her heart. “They won’t let me wear it into surgery. Please, keep this safe for me.”

The explanation satisfied him, and he looked relieved as he took the ring. “Alright, schatje. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she replied, throwing her arms around him.

He hugged her back, rubbing her back with one hand. “Now, go. I’ll see you soon.” It was like torture to let go of her and leave the room, but he knew it was for the best.

Max followed him out, but not before turning to Anya to speak. “Good luck,” he said before disappearing out the door.

Anya sighed, knowing what was coming next. She got changed into a hospital gown and lay down on the bed for the nurse to take her vitals. The doctor pulled a special marker out of his pocket and drew an arrow above Anya’s left eye.

“Alright, you’re all set,” he announced, putting away the marker as the nurse got behind the bed and started to wheel it away. “I’ll take good care of you. I promise.”

Somehow, that didn’t ease the sinking feeling in Anya’s stomach, but she simply lay still as the anesthesiologist began to work on her, and finally, she closed her eyes.

Back in the Lucentra basement, the fairly tired worker thought they were imagining things when the dot they’d been tracking on the map disappeared altogether. They blinked a few times and rubbed their eyes before peering at the map again - no, it really was gone. Dr. O’Deorain wouldn’t like that, they thought, picking up the phone with a heavy sigh.

“Ugh, now what?”

“Doctor...we lost the Anderson beacon.”

“Lost it?” She repeated, an edge of anger in her voice. “What do you mean, we  _ lost _ it?”

“I mean...it’s gone. It disappeared. It’s no longer on the map.”

“Shit!” She yelled. “You didn’t authorize lethal force, did you?!”

“Of course not!” The worker cried.

Anya and Siebren were slipping out of her grasp, and there was nothing she could do about it. She contemplated smashing her phone in rage, but quickly realized that wouldn’t do her any good. She wasn’t used to  _ losing. _

“Issue an all-points bulletin immediately!” Moira shouted into the phone. “They can’t hide forever!”

“U-Understood,” the worker replied, tapping their touchscreen, entering commands and sending every single Talon operative in the United States a message to be on the lookout for the runaways.

Moira hung up without another word, and once again resisted the urge to slam her phone onto the floor.

When Anya regained consciousness, she didn’t immediately open her eyes, noting a heavy, cold feeling on the left side of her face. She let out a groan, feeling rather awful, and felt a squeeze on one of her hands.

“Anya? Are you awake?”

The voice was unmistakably Siebren’s.

“I don’t feel good,” she replied, a rather unpleasant churning feeling in her stomach.

“I’m sorry, love.” He reached out with one hand and gently rubbed the top of her head.

“Why is my face cold?” She asked, still confused.

“There’s an ice pack on it to keep the swelling down. Do you want it off?”

Before she could reply, the door opened and another voice joined in.

“Is she awake?”

Siebren turned towards the newcomer in the room. “Yes, doctor.”

“Good. Let’s get that ice pack off her,” he said, approaching her bed.

The heaviness lifted off of her face and her eyes fluttered open, looking around. The first thing she noticed was the  _ blessed _ lack of HUD. She locked eyes with Siebren, who was absolutely thrilled. “It’s a perfect match,” he said breathlessly, smiling.

Dr. Wise held up a mirror in front of Anya’s face, and she examined herself - Siebren was right. She gave a weak smile.

“Well, it appears the operation was a complete success on all fronts,” the doctor said with a smile of his own, putting the mirror down. “The Talon eye has been destroyed in its entirety. You’re free, Anya.”

“I’m free…” she repeated, tasting the words in her mouth. “I’m free!” She looked over at Siebren, and tears began to form in her eyes despite the smile on her face.

“What’s the matter, lieveling?” He asked, seeing the tears and frowning.

“Nothing, I’m...I’m so  _ relieved,” _ she whined with a sniffle. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of her very soul.

He exhaled and smiled at her. “Me too, my dear. Me too.” He turned towards the doctor. “Thank you so much, doctor. You’ve done a wonderful thing for us today, and we’ll never forget it.”

“You’re very welcome, sir. I’m glad I could be of assistance,” Dr. Wise replied.

Then, Anya realized someone was missing. “Where’s Max?”

“Waiting in the hallway. We didn’t think you’d want to wake up with strangers in the room, so he and I stayed away for a little while. Anyway, I have been informed that your case is urgent and that you’ll be taken to base as soon as you are ready, but I want you to take your time and rest here as long as you need. Maxwell can eat my shorts if he doesn’t like it, I’m not shoving a patient out the door before they’re ready.”

Anya smiled - the doctor had a good sense of humor. “Thank you,” she replied, relaxing further into her pillow.

“You’re welcome, Anya. Now, I’ve got some other work to attend to; you can call for a nurse if you need anything. I may not see you again before you leave, so...farewell. I hope Overwatch treats you well.”

“Goodbye, doctor. And thank you again.”

Without another word, Dr. Wise turned and left the room, leaving Anya and Siebren by themselves. Anya turned her head towards Siebren, who noticed she was having trouble keeping her eyes open.

“Schatje, are you tired? You should sleep. I’ll be right here.”

“Okay,” she replied with a yawn, before closing her eyes.


	24. Chapter 24

When Anya opened her eyes again, she found that Siebren was, in fact, still there, as he had promised. “Mm...good morning,” she said with a smile, even though she had no idea what time it was.

“Good morning,” he replied, brushing some hair out of her face. “Do you feel better?”

She nodded. “Much better.”

“Good. Let’s get going,” another voice piped up, and Anya turned her head to look at its source - Max was standing in the room. “I’ve already spoken with the nurses, you can leave whenever you’re ready, no questions asked. So get up and get dressed; they’re waiting for us at the base.”

“Okay.” She pushed the blanket off of herself and Siebren helped her stand up, guiding her over to where her clothes were stored. She was dressed in hardly any time at all, and turned to leave.

“Oh! I almost forgot,” Siebren suddenly exclaimed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Anya’s ring. He reached for her hand, and slid the ring onto her finger. “There. Now you’re ready.”

She smiled up at him, and he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips.

Max rolled his eyes - albeit with a smile on. “Okay, lovebirds, the car is waiting.”

So the three of them left, Max leading the way. Anya still didn’t know what time it was for sure, but the sky was now an inky black, dotted with glimmering stars, a crescent moon nestled amongst them.

They piled into the car again, and then they were off. Anya watched out the window as the nondescript building disappeared into the distance.

Siebren reached out and took her hand in his, noting a lack of trembling. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” she replied, turning to face him. “My eye is sore, of course, but otherwise I’m fine.”

“Good, that’s good.” He smiled at her, unable to tear his gaze away from her face, restored to its former glory, illuminated by the streetlights overhead. He reached over and placed his free hand on her cheek. “That eye really is a perfect match,” he remarked quietly. “You look wonderful, Anya.”

A blush bloomed on her face and she tried to shyly turn away, but the hand on her cheek wouldn’t let her. “Now, now, schatje...it’s been a long time since I could take in your beauty without seeing Talon’s influence too.”

He was right, she figured. It _ had _been quite a while since she had two matching eyes. She knew how she felt whenever she had to look at herself in a mirror - but she’d never stopped to consider how he felt looking at her. How many times did a knife made of sorrow, of grief, run through his heart? Her lips sank into a frown at the idea.

“I...did not mean to upset you,” he said, voice low.

“You didn’t, it’s just that...I realize now that I wasn’t the only one who was suffering with that eye.” Her eyes flicked off to the side in shame.

“I see. Well, don’t worry about it any longer, dear. It’s all past us now.”

Then, a quiet descended over the car. Siebren managed to stop staring at Anya’s face, and despite the discomfort of being crammed into the back seat of the car, soon fell asleep. Eventually, Anya looked over, mouth open as if to speak, but quickly closed it and smiled - he looked so peaceful; she didn’t dare disturb him, wondering when the last time he slept was.

In her home office, Moira paced the floor restlessly, wondering what to do about Anya and Siebren. Suddenly, an idea came to mind, and she picked up her phone off the desk, flicking through her contacts and selecting one, placing a call.

A sleepy-sounding voice answered. “You do know what time it is, don’t you, Moira?”

“Don’t sass me, Olivia. This is urgent. I need you to trace Anderson and de Kuiper’s cell phones.”

Olivia almost asked why, but recalled the all-points bulletin she’d received earlier. “Okay, but you owe me, doctor.”

“Put it on my tab and do it.”

The line went silent as Olivia worked, tapping at touchscreens to locate her targets.

“...They’re at home, Moira. It’s after one in the morning, they’re _ asleep. _ I—”

“Impossible!” Moira shouted, eyes wild. “The eye beacon was headed east hours ago when we lost the signal!”

“There’s nothing impossible about it. That’s where my locators are showing them.”

With a growl, Moira fought the urge to send her phone rocketing out the window. There was no doubt about it now - the couple was on the run.

“Thank you, Olivia. Good night.”

Moira did not allow time for Olivia to reply before ending the call. She dropped her phone onto her desk and sank into her chair, defeated. She was going to catch hell for losing them, she just _ knew _ it. “They can’t hide forever,” she muttered to herself. She’d have them dragged back even if she had to do it herself.

Eventually, the car took a turn down a winding, wooded road and came to a stop at a checkpoint. The driver rolled down the window and Max nonchalantly showed his ID card to the guard, who gave a thumbs-up to their partner behind the gate controls. Moments later, the gate slowly slid open, and the car was allowed through to the base.

Anya watched as a sprawling complex came into view, and her jaw dropped slightly. She watched as several buildings passed by, none terribly tall but quite wide to compensate. “Wow…”

Her remark went unnoticed, and the car pulled up to one of the buildings. “Well, this is it,” the driver announced.

Anya turned to Siebren, who still slept. “Wake up, sleepyhead,” she teased, gently shaking his shoulder.

“Hm...wha…?”

She gave a slight giggle. “We’re here.”

“Oh.” As his mind kicked back into gear, he realized this meant he was free of his backseat prison. He wasted no time, opening the door and getting out.

As he stood up, he stretched himself this way and that, several pop noises sounding out from his spine.

“Are...are you alright?” Anya asked, having heard it from the opposite side of the car.

“I’m an old man, Anya. My back isn’t what it used to be.”

“For the last time, you’re not _ that _ old, Siebren, you’re just...old_er.” _

He chuckled at that. “Fine, I’m an old_er _ man.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but Max stepped around and opened the trunk. “Take your things, please.”

Suitcases in hand, Max led them into the building. The lights were dimmed slightly, but they could still see a small woman leaning against a wall, something with a glowing ring on it strapped to her chest.

“Good to see you, Tracer.”

The woman moved as if she were about to start running, but disappeared for a short moment, reappearing in front of Max. “Hiya, Max!” She chirped out, waving. “Are these the new arrivals?”

“Indeed,” he said, standing aside to reveal them. “Anya, Siebren, this is Tracer. She’ll take over from here. I am...very tired, it’s been _ quite _ a long day. I may never see you again, due to my line of work, but I am very glad to have been able to help. Therefore, I bid you farewell,” he said, before starting to walk away.

“Goodbye, and thank you so much!” Anya called after him.

He turned and waved at them, but otherwise did not respond.

“Well, hello luvs!” Tracer’s cheery voice rang out. “Welcome to Overwatch!” She dashed forwards and wrapped a big hug around Anya, taking her by surprise - though it was not unwelcome.

After a few moments, she let go and turned her attention to Siebren, whom she assessed quickly and came to the conclusion that, despite his size, he too needed a hug. So her arms went around him as far as they would go, and he couldn’t help but chuckle.

After the hugs were finished, she reached into a pocket and pulled out two identical devices. “These are your base maps,” she said, holding out one in each hand. “These’ll help you get around! Now, I’m gonna give you a little tour—” She cut herself off, noting the exhausted looks on the couple’s faces. “I’ll be quick, I promise!” She added hastily, to reassure them. She turned and beckoned forwards, beginning to walk. Anya and Siebren shared a look before taking off after her, suitcases still in hand.

“This is the common area,” Tracer said, gesturing around as they entered a lobby-like area, with couches, TVs, and tables. “It’s empty now, cuz it’s so late, but usually there’s a bunch of people in here!” She pointed in one direction. “That way’s the fitness room. We don’t have basic training or anything like that unless you’re going into field work, so that’s where you’ll stay fit.” She pointed in the other direction. “And that way’s the games room, we’ve got a bunch of fun stuff like pool tables and ping-pong! Basically, this whole area is where you’re gonna relax when you’re not working.”

And then she was off again. “Alright, I’ll bring you to your room now. You look pretty tired,” she commented. “I heard about your day from Max when he let me know how late you guys were gonna be. How’re ya holdin’ up, Anya?”

“Hm? Oh, I-I’m fine - it’s still pretty sore, but it’s nothing I can’t manage.”

“That’s good. I’d hate for you to be doing poorly,” Tracer replied with a smile. “Now, your room is on the third floor. It’s marked as a waypoint on your maps, so you’ll always be able to find home no matter where you are!”

Anya looked down at the device in her hand, noting it required two hands for operation. Seeing as her other hand had a suitcase handle in it, playing with the map would have to wait.

Soon they came to an elevator, and Tracer pressed the call button with gusto. She put her hands on her hips and waited, tapping one foot. It soon arrived, and the three got in, Tracer pushing the “3” button.

When they got out on the third floor, Tracer led them through the halls until they reached room 359. “Here’s your room! And here’s your keys,” she said, pulling keycards out of her pocket and handing them to the couple, making sure they each got the right one. “Those keys will be your keys to the entire base, by the way. Right now, they’re only coded for this building and this room, but soon you’ll have access to whatever buildings you need for your work,” she explained. “Now, I’m off to get some more sleep. I’ll see you in the morning! Rest well, luvs,” she finished, before zipping away.

Siebren took the initiative and unlocked the door, opening it, revealing a fairly plain bedroom that he led the way into. The door slid shut behind them and locked.

The bedroom was modest - a double bed with nightstands and lamps on either side sat towards the center of the room, beneath a window; two chairs and a table sat off to the side; and a dresser stood against the wall across from the bed. There were two other doors in the room; Anya guessed one of them led to a closet and the other to the bathroom.

Both of them were too overwhelmed to explore further, however, letting their suitcases drop to the floor and collapsing onto the bed.

That’s when it finally hit them.

They were _ safe _.

“We did it. We’re here, we’re with Overwatch. We’re safe now,” Siebren said, voice cracking as he slipped his arms around Anya. How long had he wanted this for? Ever since the fragments of his mind came back together, he’d wanted a way out. That’s why he’d requested the transfer to the US in the first place.

“We did it…” She repeated as she started to cry. She pressed her forehead to his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly.

He didn’t realize he was crying too until he felt a teardrop slide down his face out of the corner of his eye.

A minute or two passed by, and Siebren decided to speak up. “Let’s...get ready for bed,” he said quietly. “It’s been a long day.”

So they dug through their suitcases for pajamas and toothbrushes and such, got changed and ready for bed, turned out the lights, and laid back down, pulling the blankets over themselves.

“Good night, mijn schat.”

“Good night, love,” Anya replied, leaning in and giving him a sweet, small kiss.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> explicit chapter!

Another kiss followed, then another, their lips meeting over and over again before they simply stopped separating at all. Siebren took the lead, placing a hand on her side and deepening the kiss, his other hand gently caressing her jawline. Anya let slip a small moan, reaching out and putting her arms around his neck, desperate to have him as close as possible after the long, fairly awful day the pair had.

He lightly bit on her bottom lip and pulled, prompting her to open her mouth. He let go of her lip and pressed his lips against hers, his tongue sliding out and meeting hers. It took her slightly by surprise, though she knew it shouldn’t have. His hand traveled up her side to her chest, taking one of her breasts in his hand and rubbing it in circles, drawing from her a whine. One of her arms unwound itself from around his neck, and she placed her hand on his chest. His other hand landed on her other breast and began to rub it as well.

The hand on top let go of her and traveled back down her side, over her hip and onto her thigh, then pulled her thigh forwards, forcing her leg over his. She wrapped her leg around him, and his hand slid up her thigh, gliding over her soft, smooth skin, pulling her nightdress up and out of the way. It then drifted down, to the spot between her legs, his palm rubbing short back-and-forth strokes over her lower lips, through her panties. She moaned again, louder this time, and he smiled to himself.

He pulled aside the now-damp fabric and quickly found her clit, rubbing small circles over it. She gasped and broke away from their kiss, leaving him confused; he stopped what he was doing - until she spoke. “Two can play at that game,” she said quietly as the hand on his chest began to drift downwards. It reached his waistband fairly quickly, slipping beneath it and finally taking hold of his half-hard cock. His hips twitched forwards and he bit his lip, muffling a moan of his own. She gave a mischievous smile as her hand began to work him.

“Little devil,” he remarked, half joking, the hand on her breast giving her nipple a pinch. He chuckled as she let out a whine. “You like that, don’t you?”

_ “Yeeeesss,”  _ she admitted in another whine as he did it again, her face flushing bright pink. Her busy hand stilled for a moment and she gave a long, low moan as the hand between her legs slid a finger into her opening. He pumped it in and out a couple of times before adding a second finger, spreading and scissoring inside her, carefully working her open. 

She gazed at him with half-lidded eyes, and his heart skipped a beat - she was always beautiful, but even more so at this very moment, coming undone beneath his touch. “Please, Siebren...I need you,” she said, withdrawing her hand from his now fully-hard cock and bringing it up to her mouth to lick the precum off of it. The sight of it made his breath hitch and sent signals of pure desire straight to both his heart and his cock.

He knew full well what she meant, but decided to make her beg. “I’m right here, schatje. Tell me what you want.”

“Hnnn...fuck me,  _ please,” _ she whined, bucking her hips a couple of times to make sure he got the message.

“Ah, I see. Well, since you asked so nicely…” he said with a smirk, pulling his fingers out of her. Not bothering to clean off his hand, he simply reached for his waistband and pulled down as far as he could, freeing his cock from its confines. He moved his hand to her thigh, hiking it up further to open her up wider. He moved his hand to his cock, helping to line himself up with her entrance. Slowly, he pushed in, moving his hand to her hip with a groan as he slid inside her. “Oh, that’s so good…”

“Ahaa—!” She wrapped her arms around his neck again and cried out as he hilted, pressing against her deepest parts.

“Hush, liefste, you don’t want to wake our neighbors, do you?”

“No, but—”

“Then be a good girl and keep your voice down.”

She let out a whine of frustration, and he started to kiss her again to help her stay quiet as he started to move with short, slow strokes. Gradually, he built up his rhythm, until he was going as fast and hard as the position allowed. It wasn’t long until she felt that familiar feeling of  _ need, _ and she pulled her head away from his, breaking off the kiss.

“Please make me cum, please make me cum,  _ please _ make me cum—” She chanted quickly, in a high-pitched whine.

“Alright, settle down,” he said with a smile, reaching down with one hand to rub her clit. “Are you going to be a good girl?”

“Yes, God  _ yes!” _ She hissed in reply.

He wasn’t sure if that was an answer to his question or an exclamation of pleasure. Nevertheless, he kept going, rubbing her clit fast and hard.

Within seconds, she started to tremble. Her eyes rolled back and she bit her lip to muffle herself, reducing what normally would have been a scream of pleasure to a loud moan.

He would have scolded her for her volume, were it not for the fact that her pussy fluttering around his cock was sending him rocketing towards the edge. His rhythm grew erratic, until finally he thrust in one last time and gave a grunt as he went over the edge, filling her up with his hot, thick cum.

Afterwards, he simply lay there for a moment, breathing hard and admiring the lovely girl next to him. He pulled out slowly, careful not to overstimulate her, and put the fabric of her panties back where it belonged. “There,” he said quietly, smiling with half-lidded eyes as he pulled his own pants back up. “How was that?”

“Mm, fantastic,” she replied, following it up with a yawn.

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s time for sleep now. Good night, mijn lieverd,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“Good night, dearest. I love you.”

“I love you too.”


	26. Chapter 26

The next morning, Siebren’s eyes fluttered open and he looked around, the previous day’s memories coming back to him, reminding him why he wasn’t in his own bed.

He looked next to him, at the still-sleeping Anya, the sun streaming in through the windows making her seem to glow. He smiled to himself - she truly was the most magnificent thing he’d ever seen.

Suddenly, her eyes opened, and she looked up at Siebren. “Good morning,” she said with a yawn, reaching up to rub her eyes but thinking better of it.

“Good morning,” he replied. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Uh-uh.” She shook her head slightly, then set her gaze on his face.

He reached out and placed a hand on her cheek. In the morning sunlight, she was radiant, her beauty unmatched, and to be able to touch her reminded him that she was real, that she was here with him. A tear came to his eye as he remembered that this was who he had chosen, who had chosen him in return, who he was to spend the rest of his life—

_ Knockknockknockknock. _

“Goooood moooorniiiiing!” Came the muffled greeting from outside the door.

Siebren rolled his eyes with a smile and, after giving Anya a quick kiss, got out of bed. Making sure he was well put-together after the previous night, he pressed the button to slide the door open.

As expected, Tracer stood there, smiling wide and looking chipper. “Hiya!”

“Good morning,” Siebren replied, rubbing his face.

“Where’s Anya?”

“Still in bed.”

Tracer tried to peer around Siebren’s large body and into the room. “Good morning, Anya!” She called inside.

Anya smiled and got out of bed herself, joining Siebren at the door. “Morning, Tracer.”

“You’re gonna miss out on breakfast if you don’t hurry up and get ready!”

“Alright, give us five minutes,” Siebren replied.

“Five?!” Anya repeated, looking up at him with widened eyes and furrowed eyebrows. “You do know how long it takes me just to  _ brush my hair, _ right?”

“We’ll make it work,” he reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Now come on, we’re wasting time.”

With a harsh sigh, Anya turned back into the room. Siebren gave Tracer an apologetic look, then shut the door and headed over to his suitcase.

“Five minutes,” Anya repeated in a growl as she rapidly pulled things out of her suitcase looking for the shirt she wanted to wear. “I can’t believe you.”

“Are you really going to be mad at me over this?” Siebren asked, quickly undressing. “Not the best way to start your day, liefste.”

“A better way to start the day would have been with at least ten minutes,” she stated, heading to the bathroom.

“We don’t  _ have _ ten minutes!” He cried out, pulling on his shirt. Sensing a fight brewing, he decided to try to placate her. “Listen. I’ll make it up to you later, I promise. But right now, we just  _ don’t have time. _ Okay?”

She grumbled, but acquiesced, pausing brushing her teeth just long enough to answer. “Fine.”

The rest of the five minutes was nearly silent as they finished getting ready - Siebren finishing before Anya, to the surprise of neither of them. They stood at the door as the five minutes came to a close.

“Do you have your key and map?” He asked.

“Yes. Do you?”

“Yes.” His hand moved towards the button to open the door, but he paused, his finger hovering just over the button.

“What’s wrong?”

He turned towards her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Anya, I love you dearly.”

In that moment, most of her remaining bitterness drained away. “I...I love you too,” she replied, looking off to the side.

He bent down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

She nodded, and he opened the door.

Tracer still stood there. “There you are! Now come on, we’re already late!”

The door slid shut behind them as they walked away, Tracer leading the way.

“Now, do either of you have any food allergies or sensitivities?” She asked as the three boarded the elevator.

“I’m lactose intolerant,” Anya replied. There was a pause as she furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?”

“So we don’t feed ya anything that’ll kill ya,” Tracer answered, her usual cheery tone mixed with a matter-of-fact delivery.

“Ah. I see.” Anya looked up at Siebren.

“You have your pills, don’t you?” He asked her, quirking an eyebrow.

“Oh,  _ shit, _ no, I left them in the room…”

He let out a soft sigh. “No milk for you, then.”

Anya grumbled and crossed her arms.

They stepped out of the elevator at the first floor. “Now, I didn’t get to show you this last night because you two were far too tired, but the mess hall is back this way,” Tracer said, leading them down a hallway they hadn’t taken the night before. She pushed open a set of double doors at the end of the hallway, revealing a cafeteria with long tables - not unlike something you’d find in a high school, only bigger. “Let’s get in line before they stop serving.”

Not too long after, trays in hand, Tracer led the way to an empty section of one of the tables and sat down, gesturing for the couple to do the same. “So, why’d you sleep in so late?”

Anya looked about to start tearing her apart, but Siebren spoke up first, effectively silencing her. “We don’t have a clock. Our phones are at home. Plus, need I remind you that Anya had a fairly major surgical procedure done with very little time given to recover?” He decided he’d just leave out the part where they had sex. She didn’t need to know that, he figured.

Tracer held a hand to her forehead for a moment. “A clock! That would help, wouldn’t it? Don’t you worry, I’ll make sure you have one by tonight!”

“Thank you,” he replied with a smile.

She looked over at Anya. “How’s your eye?”

“Hm? Oh, fine...still a little sore, but fine overall.”

“Good!” She replied before shoving a forkful of scrambled egg into her mouth.

Siebren decided to speak up again. “So, what exactly are we doing today? I assume we’re doing something, at least.”

Tracer swallowed hard before she answered. “Well, first we’re gonna take you to get your ID cards, then I hear you’re getting phones to use. After that, you’ll have your measurements taken for any uniforms you might get. Then you’re getting your work assignments, but you don’t start until tomorrow, so you’ll be free after that.”

Anya perked up at that. “Phones? Like, cell phones?”

“Mmhm.”

“For personal use?”

“More or less. You can’t just contact  _ anyone, _ obviously, but—”

“Can I call my mom?”

“Well, that’s not up to me...you’ll have to ask when you get it.”

Anya didn’t answer.

The rest of breakfast was mostly silent, the trio being too busy eating to talk much. After they cleaned up, Tracer led the way back out of the mess hall, and eventually out of the building. “So, the first thing we’re gonna do is get you your ID cards. It’s a bit of a walk, so I hope you’re prepared to—”

Siebren began to float and Tracer cut herself off, jaw hanging open.

“Aw, that’s not fair! I can’t do that!” Anya protested, pouting and crossing her arms.

He smiled and rolled his eyes as Anya began to float as well, and Tracer’s jaw dropped even further. “How are you doing that?” She asked, incredulous.

“It’s a long story,” Siebren answered, suddenly sounding tired. “I don’t wish to go into it right now.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, uh...let’s be off, then,” Tracer replied, trying not to sound disappointed.

A lot of floating around later, the couple had their ID cards in hand and had arrived at their next location. Siebren carefully set Anya down on the ground before landing himself, and the trio walked into the building together. Tracer led them to an office on the second floor, knocking on the open door. “We’re here!” She announced, standing in the doorway in a triumphant pose.

The office’s occupant turned to face her. “Ah, Tracer. Welcome. I assume that behind you are Siebren and Anya?”

Siebren smiled. “That’s correct.”

“Allow me to introduce myself - call me Dusk.” They reached for a couple of cell phones sitting to one side of their L-shaped desk. “Now, I can only guess that you’re here for these,” they said, picking up the phones.

“We are!” Tracer replied, chipper as ever.

“Good, I’ve just finished setting them up a few minutes ago. Siebren, this one is yours,” they said, holding one phone in their right hand, “and Anya, this one is yours,” they finished, holding the other in their left.

The couple stepped forward and took their respective phones, Anya looking quite pleased.

“Now, do either of you have any questions for me?”

“Can I call my mom?” Anya blurted out immediately.

Dusk chuckled. “So long as your mother isn’t a known agent of Talon, then I suppose that would be fine. Do remember that your calls will be monitored, so I would advise you to tell her as little as possible about where you are and what you’re doing.”

“But I can tell her about how I ended up here, right?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Tears began to build in Anya’s eyes. “Thank you.”

“Any more questions?”

Anya reached up and rubbed the tears out of her natural eye. “Um, can I play games on it?”

Another chuckle. “Yes, you can. Typically we wouldn’t allow that kind of thing, but considering your story, we’ve made exceptions for you. Just be cautious about what you download.”

“Oh, thank you so much,” she replied, looking relieved. At least now she’d have something to  _ do. _

“Siebren, you’ve been quiet. Do you have any questions?”

“Not that I can think of. Anya’s covered everything, I think.”

Dusk gave a nod. “Well then, you’re free to go.”

“Thanks, Dusk!” Tracer said with a wide smile, then gestured towards the door. “C’mon guys, we have places to be!”

“Thank you very much,” Siebren said to Dusk.

“You are very welcome.”

Siebren and Anya followed Tracer outside. “Alright, next is to the uniform department for your measurements,” Tracer announced.

Anya kept looking at the phone in her hand. “I have a phone again…”

“Yes, dear, you do,” Siebren replied, placing a hand on her back. “You can call your mother later. Can you put it away for now so nothing happens to it? We have things to do.”

“Yeah…” She sighed, slipping it into her pocket.

With that, they set off for the uniform department, arriving several minutes later. The lady with the measuring tape stared at Siebren with huge eyes. “I want to measure you first,” she commented. “How tall are you?”

“Seven foot one,” he replied, amused.

“Wow…”

Soon it was Anya’s turn, and she was terrified.

Siebren was quick to notice. “What’s the matter, liefste?”

“Do I need to remind you that I’m fat?” She muttered quickly.

He sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright. Nobody is going to judge you,” he said to her quietly.

“Anya? What’s wrong?” The lady with the measuring tape asked. “It’s your turn.”

Anya looked to be on the verge of tears as she stubbornly refused to step away from Siebren’s side. “I…” She started, but found herself unable to come up with anything satisfactory.

“She’s scared,” Siebren said for her.

The lady cocked her head. “Why? It’s not like it’s an invasive procedure.” She looked at Anya. “Have you ever had your measurements taken before?”

Anya shook her head.

“I see. Well, let’s start with an easy one: how tall are you?”

“Five foot eight,” she answered, voice wavering.

The lady hummed as she noted it down on her tablet. “And shoe size?”

“Twelve.”

Anya had been sure the lady would have reacted to that, but she simply nodded and noted it down, face blank.

“Okay, now I need to measure you. Would you please step away from Siebren?”

Anya looked up at him for guidance. “Go ahead. I’m right here,” he said, placing his hand on her back and gently pushing her forward.

Finally, she stepped forward, into the middle of the room.

“Good! Thank you,” the lady said as she held out the measuring tape. “Now, hold out your arms for me…”

Anya squeezed her eyes shut as the lady began to measure her - she didn’t want to see what numbers came up on the measuring tape, especially as she felt the measuring tape wrap around her midsection.

Then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. “There! All set,” the lady said, and Anya opened her eyes.

“Really?”

“Yes! That was it, I’ve got all your measurements in your file now. You’re free to go.”

“Oh. Um...thank you,” Anya responded quickly, before scurrying back over to Siebren’s side.

He wrapped an arm around her to comfort her, knowing the experience wasn’t a good one for her. “You did great, darling.”

She let out a whine in response.

“Alright, let’s get going! One more stop for the day, and then we’re done,” Tracer said, leading the way out the door.

They arrived at another building a fairly short time later, and Tracer led them to an office on the top floor. She knocked on the closed door before standing and waiting patiently.

It opened a short moment later, onto a man dressed in a rather military-like uniform. “Tracer! How good to see you. I see you’ve brought our newest recruits. Please, come in and sit down,” he said, opening the door all the way and retreating back into the room, sitting at his desk.

The trio entered the room and sat down as instructed. “So, we’ve done our research and found what we hope to be the best fitting roles for you within our organization. Anya, let’s start with you,” the man said, folding his hands on the desk. “You’re a programmer, and quite good at it from what we uncovered.”

A blush spread across Anya’s face. “Ah...thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied, smiling. “With that in mind, it would be remiss of us to place you anywhere but with our cybersecurity team. You’ll be playing a role in keeping all of us safe from cyber attacks. You’ll be on a team of several other programmers, creating and maintaining the tools the analysts use.”

Anya breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, sir.”

“Now, as for you, doctor,” the man said, turning towards Siebren, “you’re a brilliant astrophysicist. Therefore, we’d like to place you with our aerospace department. Your research into the nature of gravity is incredibly important to us, and we’d like to allow you to continue it.”

It was Siebren’s turn to look relieved. “Wonderful, thank y—” He cut himself off, eyes going wide and mouth dropping into a frown.

“Doctor, what’s wrong?”

He spoke slowly as the seriousness of the situation dawned on him. “All of my research is still at Lucentra.”


End file.
